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nails,  "©ear  iHasiter,  tfiere  is  pet  one  Sentence  to  torite." 
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breatfteb  Ijis  last. 


ENGLISH 
LITERATURE 


BY 


JOHN  LOUIS  I^ANEY,   Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR  OF  ENGLISH  PHILOLOGY;  HEAD  OF  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF 
ENGLISH,  CENTRAL  HIGH  SCHOOL,  PHILADELPHIA 


M 


NEW  YORK 

HARCOURT,  BRACE  AND  HOWE 

1920 


•  4  • 


•     •      •«   • 


COPYRIGHT,     1920,    BY 
HARCOURT,   BRACE  AND  HOWE,   INC. 


^Y 


^.  C,  ^2Zuu^J 


TO 

F.  E.  H. 

AND 

J.  G.  H. 


r.nnt>r.?; 


PREFACE 

In  the  curriculum  of  high  schools  or  colleges  there  is 
no  subject  that  can  be  made  more  interesting  than  literature. 
It  tells  of  the  men  and  women  who  wrote  the  best  books 
throughout  the  ages,  and  it  tells  about  the  books  themselves. 
In  EngHsh  Literature,  for  example,  our  survey  covers  a 
period  of  more  than  a  thousand  years.  We  start  with  the 
fine  old  battle-epics  of  a  period  when  civilization  was  just 
emerging  from  the  Dark  Ages.  Step  by  step  we  are  carried 
through  the  era  of  chivalry  and  romance,  the  refreshing 
literary  outburst  in  the  age  of  Chaucer,  the  scholarly  period 
of  the  Reformation,  the  golden  days  of  Good  Queen  Bess, 
the  more  sedate  period  of  Puritanism,  then  the  long  epoch 
of  classical  traditions  under  the  three  successive  literary 
leaders,  Dry  den.  Pope,  and  Johnson,  and  finally  the  still 
longer  period  of  romantic  influences  best  represented  in  the 
writings  of  Wordsworth  and  Tennyson.  Such  authors  as 
Mr.  Kipling,  Mr.  Masefield,  and  others  who  are  producing 
literary  work  to-day  are  merely  contributing  to  that  great 
national  utterance  which  had  its  beginnings  in  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  sagas  and  is  likely  to  continue  as  long  as  mankind 
has  ideas  that  will  be  treasured  by  succeeding  generations. 

A  book  on  English  Literature  should  therefore  be  a  guide 
to  an  ideal  land  of  never-failing  delight  —  the  land  of  the 
imagination,  where  we  may  wander  at  pleasure  with  the 
greatest  minds  of  all  times  and  share  their  thoughts  and 
feelings.  The  author  of  this  book  has  spent  twenty  years 
in  teaching  this  attractive  subject  to  high  school  pupils. 


viii  PREFACE 

He  has  tried  to  provide  for  students  the  sort  of  book  they 
will  like.  There  are  no  "topics  for  discussion"  or  "ques- 
tions for  review"  bobbing  up  at  the  end  of  each  chapter. 
A  student  can  go  right  on  reading  from  chapter  to  chapter 
without  skipping  a  lot  of  pages  of  fine  print.  Of  course, 
there  is  a  list  of  good  books  and  suggested  readings  to  help 
the  student  who  wishes  to  pursue  the  subject  more  fully, 
but  that  list  has  been  placed  at  the  end  of  the  volume, 
where,  like  the  index,  it  is  pretty  well  out  of  the  way  and 
merely  for  the  convenience  of  those  who  want  to  use  it. 
A  great  many  dates  have  been  included  in  this  book,  but  it 
will  not  be  necessary  to  learn  most  of  them.  Dates  of 
authors'  lives  and  their  writings  are  useful  only  to  establish 
the  relative  position  of  the  writers  and  their  books  to  the 
period  in  which  they  worked. 

The  numerous  pictures  in  the  book  have  been  chosen  with 
unusual  care.  The  student  who  would  derive  the  greatest 
benefit  from  his  course  in  literature  should  study  carefully 
the  portraits  of  the  authors  as  well  as  the  views  of  their 
homes  and  the  surroundings  amid  which  their  writings 
were  produced.  There  is  also  a  map  on  which  have  been 
indicated  the  leading  places  of  literary  interest. 

The  study  of  literature  is  often  the  starting-point  for  some 
of  the  most  delightful  interests  that  men  and  women  develop 
after  their  school  days.  It  involves  acquaintance  with 
nature,  art,  history,  biography,  and  various  kindred  sub- 
jects. Students  should  get  the  habit  of  reading  more  than 
the  teacher  requires  and  should  choose  most  of  the  extra 
reading  from  the  kind  of  literature  that  will  be  most  helpful. 
Such  a  habit,  developed  during  school  years,  may  become  a 
source  of  unending  pleasure  in  after  life. 

In  writing  this  book  the  author  has  drawn  freely  upon 
the  material  accumulated  by  the  many  writers  on  literary 
topics.  It  would  be  impossible  to  make  full  acknowledg- 
ment in  detail,  but  special  thanks  are  due  to  those  through 


PREFACE 


IX 


^lose  courtesy  several  copyrighted  pictures  are  included  in 
these  pages.  John  Lane  Company  kindly  permitted  the  re- 
production of  Aubrey  Beardsley's  drawing,  "The  Toilet," 
to  illustrate  Pope's  Rape  of  the  Lock.  The  author  wishes 
to  express  his  obligations  to  several  of  his  colleagues,  not- 
ably to  Professor  William  F.  Gray,  who  made  valuable 
suggestions  for  illustrating  the  book,  and  to  Dr.  Frederic 
A.  Child,  who  read  the  entire  text  in  proof. 

J.  L.  H. 

Central  High  School,  Philadelphia 
April  3,  1920 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction:   What  is  Literature? 1 

I.  The  Old  English  Period 4 

Prehistoric  Britain  —  The  Roman  Occupation  —  The  Anglo- 
Saxon  Conquest  —  Earliest  Literature  —  Beowulf  —  Caedmon 

—  Cynewulf  —  The  Coming  of  the  Danes  —  Alfred  —  Aelfric 

—  The  Chronicle. 

IL  The  Anglo-Norman  Period 32 

The  Norman  Conquest  —  The  English  Language  —  Latin 
Historians — The  Arthurian  Legend  —  Layamon  —  Sir 
Gawayne  —  King  Horn  —  Havelock  —  Bestiaries  —  Religious 
Poems  — Ancren  Riwle  —  Lyrical  Poetry  —  The  Pearl. 

in.  The  Age  of  Chaucer 60 . 

A  Literary  Awakening  —  Mandeville  —  WycliflFe  —  Piers 
Plowman  —  Gower  —  Chaucer. 

IV.  The  Renaissance 82 

A  Fallow  Period  —  Scottish  Literature  —  English  Ballads  — 
Morte  d' Arthur  —  The  Renaissance  —  Caxton  —  Tyndale  — 
More  —  Ascham  —  Wyatt  and  Surrey. 

V.  The  Elizabethan  Age 97 

An  Age  of  Expansion  —  Elizabethan  Prose  —  Sidney  — 
Raleigh  —  Bacon  —  Spenser  —  English  Drama  —  The  Theater 

—  Early    Dramatists  —  Marlowe  —  Shakespeare  —  Jonson  — 
Other  Dramatists. 

VI.  The  Puritan  Age 155 

An  Age  of  Austerity  —  The  Bible  —  Taylor  —  Walton — 
Fuller  —  Browne  —  Bunyan  —  Donne  —  Religious  Poets  — 
Caroline  Poets  —  Milton. 

VII.  The  Restoration 178 

Change  of  Ideals  —  Classicism  —  Butler  —  The  Diarists  — 
Science  and  Philosophy  —  Restoration  Drama  —  Dryden. 

X 


CONTENTS  xi 

VIII.  The  Classical  Period 192 

An  Age  of  Repression  —  Addison  and  Steele  —  Swift  — 
Pope  —  The  Rise  of  the  Novel  —  DeFoe  —  Richardson  — 
Fielding  —  Smollett  —  Sterne  —  Johnson  —  Goldsmith  — 
Burke  —  Gibbon  —  Sheridan. 

IX.   Early  Romanticism 247 

The  Reaction  —  Thomson  —  Collins  —  Ossian  —  Percy's 
Ballads  —  The  Romantic  Novel  —  Chatterton  —  Gray  — 
Cowper  —  Crabbe  —  Blake  —  Burns. 

X.  The  Romantic  Period 271 

New  Social  Ideals  —  The  French  Revolution  —  Words- 
worth —  Coleridge  —  Southey  —  Scott  —  Austen  —  Lamb  — 
Landor  —  Hazlitt  ■ —  Hunt  —  DeQuincey  —  The    Reviewers 

—  Byron  —  Shelley  —  Keats  —  Minor  Romantic  Poets. 

XI.  The  Victorian  Age 322 

Social  and  Political  Changes  —  Growth  of  Democracy  — 
Maeaulay  —  Carlyle  —  Tennyson  —  Browning  —  Arnold  — 
Rossetti  —  Smnburne  —  Minor  Poets  —  The  Victorian 
Novel  —  Dickens  —  Thackeray  —  Eliot  —  Meredith  —  Hardy 

—  Stevenson  —  Minor  Novelists  —  Ruskin  —  Newman  — 
Scientific  Writers. 

XII.  Contemporary  Writers 389 

The  Spirit  of  the  Age  —  Kipling  —  Phillips  —  Masefield  — 
Noyes  —  Recent  Fiction  —  DeMorgan  —  Conrad  —  Phill- 
potts  —  Hewlett  —  Locke  —  Wells  —  Bennett  —  Galsworthy 

—  Recent  Drama  —  Pinero  —  Jones  —  Shaw  —  Barrie  —  The 
Celtic  Renaissance  —  Yeats  —  Synge  —  Dunsany  —  The  Re- 
cent Essayists  —  Benson  —  Lucas  —  Chesterton. 

Suggestions  for  Reading  and  Study 413 

Index 437 


LITERARY  MAP  OF,,, 

ENGLAND 


6°        Williams  E~ng.Co.,N.Y. 


LongHude  West 


ENGLISH   LITERATURE 

INTRODUCTION 

WHAT  IS  LITERATURE? 

There  are  some  things  in  this  world  that  are  more  easily 
understood  than  explained.  One  of  these  is  literature, 
which  apparently  has  to  do  with  books,  yet  we  know  that 
almanacs,  catalogs,  dictionaries,  and  many  other  kinds  of 
books  are  not  literature.  Men  may  laboriously  compile  a 
great  work  of  research,  like  a  census  report  or  an  encyclo- 
pedia, extending  through  many  portly  volumes,  and  yet 
not  write  a  single  line  of  literature  in  the  entire  undertaking. 
On  the  other  hand,  an  inspired  writer  may  arrange  a  few 
words  in  a  particular  order,  produce  what  the  world  accepts 
as  a  great  poem,  and  win  immortality  for  the  literature  that 
he  has  wrought.  Sometimes  it  is  easy  to  decide  whether  a 
particular  work  is  literature  or  not.  Shakespeare's  Hamlet 
and  Gray's  Elegy  are  literature;  a  city  directory  and  the 
Congressional  Record  are  not.  At  times,  however,  the 
decision  is  more  difficult.  A  personal  diary  may  be  a  dull 
narrative  of  uninteresting  daily  routine,  or  it  may  be  a 
vivacious  record  of  a  human  life  that  continues  to  interest 
succeeding  generations  of  readers.  Whenever  a  book  or  a 
document  of  any  sort  gives  evidence  of  artistic  revelation 
—  of  anything  more  than  a  bare  statement  of  fact  —  we 
begin  to  detect  the  literary  quality.  That  quality  may  be 
only  sufficient  to  arouse  a  brief  temporary  interest,  or  it 
may  be  enough  to  assure  the  writer's  fame  for  all  time. 

1 


INTRODUCTION 


Civilized  life  woulcl  be  intolerable  for  many  of  us  if  it 
meiiJiiiCt  iner.e!y  the  n?ethanical  performance  of  a  routine  duty 
to  earn  a  living.  Man  does  not  live  by  bread  only,  but  by 
a  manna  that  feeds  his  emotional  and  spiritual  self.  We 
have  been  endowed  with  faculties  and  impulses  that  should 
not  be  ignored.  Our  joy  in  the  beauty  of  nature  is  height- 
ened when  we  learn  that  some  one  else  has  felt  more  deeply 
or  perceived  more  clearly  and  when  we  may  make  that 
other's  emotion  our  own.  The  delight  that  attends  the 
coming  of  spring  with  its  birds  and  its  blossoms  is  quite  as 
general  as  the  regret  over  the  waning  of  the  year  with  the 
prospect  of  cold  and  suffering  to  come.  Human  society 
fosters  not  only  our  appreciation  for  nature,  but  friendship, 
love,  patriotism,  and  similar  emotions.  All  these  have 
found  expression  from  the  earliest  time  in  the  form  of  litera- 
ture that  we  call  lyrical  poetry. 

Man  is  endowed  with  a  memory  as  well  as  with  emotions. 
He  delights  in  recalling  pleasant  experiences  whether  in  his 
own  career  or  in  other  lives.  He  has  likewise  the  gift  of 
imagination  —  the  ability  to  form  a  mental  picture  sug- 
gested by  a  description  or  a  narration.  In  thus  re-creating 
events  in  other  lives,  real  or  fictitious,  he  shares  for  a  time 
the  joys  and  the  sorrows  of  others,  he  admires  the  heroic 
qualities  of  the  good  and  despises  the  base  qualities  of  the 
bad.  He  exercises  his  judgment  in  following  their  adven- 
tures, deciding  whether  they  are  doing  wisely  or  foolishly. 
While  he  is  doing  all  these  things  he  is  learning  much  that 
will  be  of  value  in  shaping  his  own  character.  He  will 
instinctively  seek  to  develop  what  is  good  and  to  curb  that 
which  is  bad. 

Literature  takes  account  of  many  things  from  the  crude 
and  elemental  passions  of  barbarous  life  to  the  complex 
and  refined  sentiments  of  civilization.  It  is  in  a  sense  the 
enduring  expression  of  the  best  thought  of  all  ages.  We  take 
pleasure  in  remembering  such  thought  and  in  feeling  that  it 


INTRODUCTION  3 

is  part  of  ourselves.  When  we  study  literature  we  must 
therefore  not  place  too  much  importance  upon  the  mere 
detailed  facts  of  an  author's  life.  It  is  far  more  vital  for 
us  to  know  the  author's  work,  to  judge  it  in  the  light  of  his 
career,  and  to  accept  it  as  part  of  that  great  message  that 
literature  proclaims  from  one  age  to  another.  Literature 
takes  rank  with  music,  painting,  and  the  other  fine  arts  in 
affording  us  abiding  pleasure  and  in  stimulating  the  imagina- 
tion, but  even  more  than  the  other  arts  it  is  influential  in 
shaping  human  character  and  in  presenting  noble  ideals  of 
conduct.  No  one  who  has  developed  a  love  for  books  need 
feel  lonely  in  that  realm  where  he  is  free  to  wander  at  will 
and  to  take  the  best  that  the  great  minds  of  the  past  have 
to  offer. 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  OLD  ENGLISH  PERIOD 

1.  Prehistoric  Britain.  We  think  of  England  to-day  as 
the  home  of  the  great  Anglo-Saxon  race,  which  has  spread 
to  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth  and  has  made  its  influence 
felt  in  every  civilized  country,  but  we  must  not  forget  that 
the  island  of  Britain  had  a  history  long  before  the  Angles 
and  Saxons  came  to  its  shores.     There  is  scanty  record 

of  its  earliest  inhabi- 
tants, the  men  of  the 
stone  age  who  dwelt 
in  caves  and  made  a 
bitter  struggle  for  ex- 
istence under  the  most 
unfavorable  condi- 
tions. That  race  was 
followed  by  a  tribe  of 
Celts,  who  were  of 
Aryan  extraction  and 
represented  a  more 
advanced  civilization. 
These  Celts  were  part  of  a  larger  group  that  dwelt  in  Gaul 
and  in  parts  of  Spain.  They  were  probably  the  inhabitants 
of  Britain  about  330  b.c.  when  the  Greek  navigator  Pytheas 
arrived  on  a  trade  mission.  The  earliest  known  name  of  the 
island  was  Albion,  which  may  perhaps  be  explained  as  "  the 
white  land  "  because  of  the  gleaming  chalk  cliffs  that  are 
found  along  the  coast,  although  the  origin  of  the  name  is 
really  uncertain.  Legends  have  come  down  concerning  the 
strange  religion  of  those  early  days  —  the  worship  of  the 

4 


The  Coast  of  Britain 


THE   ROMAN  OCCUPATION  5 

heavenly  bodies  under  the  authority  of  a  group  of  priests 
called  Druids;  the  wild  incantations  and  prophecies  of  the 
ancient  poets  known  as  bards;  the  building  of  huge  open- 
air  temples  such  as  Stonehenge,  which  still  stands  on  Salis- 
bury Plain  as  a  monument  to  a  vanished  race.  The  primitive 
Celts  in  Britain  were  a  superstitious,  imaginative  people, 
hving  in  small  villages  or  hamlets,  and  obtaining  their  sub- 
sistence as  farmers  or  herders.  They  believed  in  fairies, 
elves,  and  similar  airy  creatures;  they  practiced  weird  rites 
to  avoid  the  evils  of  witchcraft  and  spells.     Certain  places. 


Roman  Remains  in  Britain 

such  as  groves  or  dells,  and  certain  trees,  such  as  the  oak, 
were  regarded  as  sacred;  the  mistletoe  and  various  other 
plants  were  supposed  to  possess  mystic  healing  power. 

2.  The  Roman  Occupation.  In  55  and  54  b.c,  JuHus 
Caesar,  then  governor  of  Gaul,  made  two  expeditions  against 
Britain.  It  was  not  until  nearly  a  century  later,  however, 
that  the  Romans  began  a  systematic  conquest  which  soon 
added  the  island  to  the  Roman  Empire  as  an  organized 
province.  For  more  than  three  centuries  Britain  shared 
the  varying  fortunes  of  the  Caesars.  Those  liberty-loving 
Celts  who  refused  to  bow  to  the  Roman  yoke  fled  to  the 
mountain  fastnesses  of  Scotland  and  of  Wales,  where  they 
and  their   descendants   kept  up  irregular  warfare  against 


6  THE  OLD  ENGLISH  PERIOD 

the  imperial  power;  but  the  majority  of  the  Celts  sub- 
mitted to  Roman  authority  and  enjoyed  the  splendid  though 
superficial  civilization.  Wherever  the  Roman  of  those  days 
set  up  the  imperial  standards  he  sought  to  reproduce  in 
miniature  the  luxurious  life  of  Rome  itself.  Hence  Britain 
soon  had  well-built  roads  radiating  from  the  more  important 
towns,  in  which  were  richly  appointed  villas  with  marble 
baths,  mosaic  pavements,  and  other  details  that  appealed 
to  the  Roman  fancy.  Temples,  theaters,  and  forums  were 
erected,  and  in  many  parts  of  England  the  remains  of  such 
buildings  are  still  to  be  found.  When  Rome  was  con- 
verted to  Christianity  the  new  religion  spread  to  the  prov- 
inces, but  little  is  known  of  its  progress  in  Britain.  In 
fact,  the  glittering  civilization  of  the  Roman  period  proved 
to  be  a  mere  shell  that  did  not  last  very  long  after  the  waning 
fortunes  of  the  Empire  demanded  the  recall  of  the  Roman 
legionaries  between  407-410  a.d. 

X3.  The  Anglo-Saxon  Conquest.  The  peaceful  Celts, 
who  had  been  living  for  generations  under  the  protection 
of  Roman  authority,  were  no  match  for  their  more  warlike 
cousins  who  came  on  marauding  expeditions  from  Wales 
and  Scotland  soon  after  the  Romans  withdrew.  Moreover, 
another  danger  thre^-tened  the  unfortunate  inhabitants  of 
the  province  —  a  danger  that  came  from  beyond  the  North 
Sea.  Piratical  bands  from  various  Teutonic  tribes  dwell- 
ing in  what  is  now  north  western  Germany  began  to  swoop 
down  upon  the  eastern  coast  of  Britain  and  to  carry  off 
rich  plunder  to  their  rude  homes  across  the  sea.  The 
domesticated  Celts  were  almost  helpless  between  these 
powerful  enemies,  and  in  their  extremity  they  decided  to 
make  a  compact  with  one  against  the  other.  They  invited 
certain  Teutonic  tribes  called  Saxons  to  wage  war  against 
the  Scotch  and  Welsh  invaders,  promising  their  allies  fer- 
tile farm  lands  in  Kent  for  that  service.  According  to 
tradition  the  first  of  the  Saxon  chiefs  landed  on  the  coast 


HOME  LIFE  OF  ANGLO-SAXONS  7 

of  Kent  in  449.  Apparently  they  kept  their  agreement  at 
first  and  drove  back  the  venturesome  Celts  to  the  highlands; 
but  after  a  while,  recognizing  the  utter  helplessness  of  the 
civilized  Britons,  the  Saxon  tribes  invited  their  kin  to  come 
over  in  ever  increasing  numbers  until,  within  another  cen- 
tury, they  had  succeeded  in  bringing  the  southern  part  of 
Britain  completely  within  their  power.  This  significant 
historical  event,  known  as  the  Anglo-Saxon  Conquest, 
established  the  ancestors  of  the  present  inhabitants  of 
England  on  the  island.  There  were  three  Teutonic  tribes 
concerned  in  the  Conquest  —  the  Angles,  who  set  up  king- 
doms in  Mercia,  Northumberland,  and  East  Anglia;  the 
Saxons,  who  settled  in  Essex,  Sussex,  and  Wessex;  and  the 
Jutes,  w^ho  made  their  home  in  Kent.  The  last  were  the 
least  important  and  played  only  a  small  part  in  the  later 
history  of  the  period,  but  the  Angles  and  Saxons  after- 
wards fought  for  supremacy  among  themselves.  They 
waged  their  wars  with  varying  fortunes  until  in  828  a  king 
of  Wessex  named  Egbert  established  himself  as  ruler  of  all 
England  —  a  name  derived  from  Engla-land,  the  Land  of 
the  Angles. 

It  was  during  the  brave  but  hopeless  struggles  which  the 
Britons  waged  against  their  unfaithful  allies  that  innum- 
berable  legends  arose  concerning  the  heroic  exploits  of  a 
semi-mythical  British  ruler.  King  Arthur,  who  founded  the 
Order  of  the  Round  Table.  In  the  entire  course  of  English 
history  there  was  no  event  that  made  so  rich  a  contribu- 
tion to  our  literature  as  the  adventures  of  this  shadowy 
ruler.  He  was  regarded  as  a  pattern  of  gentility  and  cour- 
tesy in  an  age  that  was  in  many  respects  crude  and  brutal. 
The  example  that  he  set  to  his  Knights  of  the  Table  Round 
is  the  more  striking  when  we  remember  the  barbarous 
conditions  of  the  period  in  which  he  ruled. 

4.  Home  Life  of  the  Anglo-Saxons.  The  new  tribes 
who  made  themselves  masters  of  Britain  had  been  warriors 


8  THE  OLD  ENGLISH  PERIOD 

and  seamen  for  generations  in  their  old  Germanic  homeland. 
They  destroyed  much  of  the  civilization  that  Rome  had 
introduced  and  substituted  for  it  their  own  less  enlightened 
but  more  vigorous  life  which  they  had  known  beyond  the 
North  Sea.  Dwelling  in  a  cold,  comparatively  barren  coun- 
try, they  had  developed  into  a  hardy,  war-loving  race. 
Even  their  earliest  literature  reflected  the  love  of  battle  and 
the  love  of  the  sea.  As  a  race  they  prized  highly  the  great 
boon  of  liberty  and  cherished  the  ideal  of  self-government. 
For  them  existence  was  a  stern  business,  very  different  from 
the  life  that  such  nations  as  the  Greeks  and  the  Romans 
knew  on  the  more  hospitable  shores  of  the  Mediterranean. 
In  the  northern  latitudes  summer  was  a  brief  season  and 
gave  but  a  short  relief  from  the  terrible  struggle  against  the 
bitterness  of  ice,  snow,  and  sleet.  Only  the  most  rugged 
natures  could  be  hardened  against  the  exposure  that  life 
in  such  a  country  involved.  In  the  poetry  that  they  brought 
with  them  to  their  new  home  in  Britain  is  reflected  much  of 
the  suffering  they  had  to  endure  in  the  Germanic  north- 
country.  When  they  reached  the  milder  shores  of  England 
and  noted  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  they  too,  like  the  despised 
Briton,  became  tillers  of  the  land  and  yielded  to  a  manner 
of  life  less  rigorous  than  that  of  piratical  marauders.  Farm- 
ing and  grazing  soon  proved  so  profitable  that  within  a  few 
generations  they  lost  much  of  their  desire  to  prey  upon 
others.  Thereafter  they  devoted  themselves  to  those  arts 
and  traditions  that  are  associated  with  a  civilized  existence. 
5.  The  Teutonic  Religion.  The  Angles  and  the  Saxons 
brought  with  them  from  the  Continent  the  worship  of 
heathen  Teutonic  deities  such  as  Woden,  the  All-father,  the 
source  of  wisdom;  Thor,  the  god  of  thunder,  with  his  mighty 
hammer,  the  slayer  of  trolls  and  of  evil  spirits;  Loki,  the 
evil  one,  the  god  of  destruction;  and  Baldur,  the  beautiful, 
the  god  of  the  sun.  The  abode  of  the  gods  was  in  Valhalla, 
the  hall  of  the  slain,  where  the  warriors  who  perished  bravely 


LANGUAGE  OF  ANGLO-SAXONS 


9 


on  earth  were  invited  to  dwell  and  feast  as  Woden's  guests. 
There,  in  the  hall  of  joy  with  its  roof  of  gold,  the  time  passed 
wondrously  in  eating  and  drinking.  The  exalted  heroes 
recounted  their  gallant  deeds  on  earth  while  the  gods  nodded 
approval;  but  only  those  noble  spirits  were  present  who 
had  been  summoned  by  the  Valkyrs,  the  nine  handmaidens 
who  served  as  choosers 
of  the  slain  and  as  at- 
tendants at  the  ban- 
quet. According  to  the 
stern  belief  of  those 
heathen  times,  even  the 
gods  were  subject  to 
the  decrees  of  a  higher 
power  called  Wyrd,  or 
Fate,  which  deter- 
mined all  things  — 
even  the  time  when  the 
gods  themselves  must 
pass  into  a  perpetual 
twilight.  This  fatalism, 
or  belief  in  the  help- 
lessness of  the  indi- 
vidual in  the  hands  of 
destiny,  served  to  re- 
tard the  development 
of  the  races  that  came 
under  its  influence. 
The  religion  of  Woden 
and  Thor  is  gone,  but  the  memory  of  those  pagan  gods  is 
preserved  in  the  names  of  Wednesday  (Wodensday)  and 
Thursday. 

V  6.  The  Language  of  the  Anglo-Saxons.  The  invaders 
of  Britain  represented  distinct  tribes  in  their  Teutonic 
homeland  and  brought  with  them  various  dialects  of  Ger- 


Valkyr  Carrying  a  Hero  to  Valhalla 


10  THE  OLD   ENGLISH   PERIOD 

manic  origin.  These  dialects  did  not  develop  into  a  uniform 
language  during  the  Anglo-Saxon  period.  In  some  parts 
of  England,  indeed,  local  peculiarities  have  persisted  in  the 
speech  even  to  our  own  time.  There  were  many  varieties 
of  English  between  the  Northumbrian  of  the  northern  dis- 
tricts and  the  West-Saxon  of  the  extreme  south  and  west. 
Several  centuries  elapsed  before  a  language  that  was  in  any 
sense  national  emerged  from  the  midst  of  contending  dia- 
lects. None  of  the  dialects  resembled  modern  English  to 
any  considerable  degree.  The  language  employed  inflec- 
tions, or  varying  forms  for  the  different  cases  of  nouns, 
pronouns,  and  adjectives.  Its  words  were,  for  the  most 
part,  very  different  from  the  words  that  we  now  use.  More- 
over, the  words  were  differently  arranged  in  the  sentence 
and  occasionally  included  letters  that  are  quite  unknown  to 
modern  English,  such  as  \)  and  9,  which  are  two  forms  of  th. 
The  following  specimen  will  give  an  idea  of  our  language  in 
its  earliest  form : 

Aelfred  cyning  for  mid  l^rim  scipum  ut  on  see  and  gefeaht  wij) 
feower  sciphlaestas  Deniscra  manna,  and  Jjara  scipa  twa  genam, 
and  J)a  menn  ofslaegene  wseron  \>e  J)Sron  wseron. 

Expressed  in  modern  English  this  would  read: 

King  Alfred  went  out  to  sea  with  three  ships  and  fought  with  four 
ship-loads  of  Danish  men,  and  captured  two  of  the  ships  and  the 
men  who  were  thereon  were  slain. 

If  we  bear  in  mind  that  1)  is  a  form  of  th,  it  is  not  difficult 
to  determine  the  meaning  of  each  word  in  this  old  English 
sentence.  This  is,  however,  a  very  easy  specimen  to  trans- 
late; other  passages  would  be  far  less  intelligible  to  the 
modern  reader. 

7.  Versification.  The  earliest  literature  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  was  in  poetic  form.  In  choosing  that  form  they 
followed  the  example  of  the  Greeks  and  the  Romans,  who 
likewise  found  poetry  the  best  medium  for  the  expression  of 


VERSIFICATION  11 

their  emotion.  Poetry  is  easy  to  remember  and  adapts 
itself  readily  to  declamation  or  singing.  Much  of  the  martial 
literature  of  Old  England  was  thus  handed  on  from  one 
generation  to  another  by  word  of  mouth.  Anglo-Saxon 
poetry  was  quite  unlike  the  verse  of  a  later  period.  There 
was  no  regular  succession  of  accented  and  unaccented 
syllables,  and  there  was  likewise  no  rhyme.  Each  line  was 
divided  into  two  parts  by  a  pause  at  the  middle,  and  each 
part  contained  two  accented  syllables,  besides  a  varying 
number  of  unaccented  syllables.  The  rhythm  of  the  verse 
was  therefore  not  regular  as  it  is  in  most  modern  poetry, 
but  was  distinctly  irregular,  creating  an  effect  that  is  usually 
less  pleasing  to  our  ears,  though  not  without  a  certain  met- 
rical quality  of  its  own. 

Another  striking  feature  of  Anglo-Saxon  verse  was  Al- 
literation, which  means  the  repetition  of  the  same  consonant 
sound  at  the  beginning  of  two  or  more  words  in  the  same 
line.  This  repetition  usually  fell  upon  important  syllables, 
as  in 

/lod  under  /oldan  nis  l^aet  /eor  heonon 

flood  under  earth  not  is  that  far  hence 

or  in  such  a  rhythmic  line  as 

nipende  niht  and  nor3an  wind 

darkening  night  and  northern  wind 

It  is  also  possible  to  have  vowel  alliteration,  in  which 
case  any  vowel  served  to  alliterate  with  any  other.  Thus 
we  find 

enge  anpaSas  i/ncu9  gelad 

narrow  one-path  unknown  way 

While  alliteration  is  no  longer  an  essential  characteristic 
of  English  verse,  many  later  poets  have  employed  it  to 
enhance  the  musical  effect  of  their  work.  Contrast  the 
rugged  character  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  verse  with  these  melo- 
dious hnes  by  Swinburne : 


n  THE  OLD  ENGLISH  PERIOD 

All  rfelicate  days  and  pleasant,  all  spirits  and  sorrows  are  cast 

Far  out  with  the  /oam  of  the  /present  that  sweeps  to  the  surf  of  the 
^ast; 

Where  beyond  the  extreme  sea-wall,  and  6etween  the  remote  sea- 
gates, 

PFaste  water  trashes  and  tall  ships  founder  and  cZeep  rfeath  w;aits . 

8.  The  Scop  and  the  Gleeman.  It  is  perhaps  somewhat 
difficult  for  us  to  catch  the  charm  of  the  crude  verse  that  the 
Anglo-Saxons  enjoyed,  but  we  can  understand  how  the  free 
construction  of  their  poetry  made  it  possible  for  the  singer 
to  compose  new  verses  in  the  midst  of  his  song.  They 
distinguished  between  the  scop,  or  maker  of  verses,  who  was 
usually  attached  to  the  court  of  some  king  or  powerful 
noble,  and  the  gleeman,  or  wandering  singer,  who  went  about 
from  hall  to  hall,  not  so  much  an  original  maker  of  song  as 
a  singer  of  verses  composed  by  the  scop.  Whenever  the 
successful  warrior:;  returned  to  their  mead-hall,  flushed 
with  the  triumph  of  a  hard-won  battle  or  laden  with  the 
spoils  of  a  profitable  marauding  expedition,  their  festivity 
was  not  complete  unless  there  was  at  hand  the  talented 
scop  who  strummed  the  few  strings  of  his  small  harp  and 
chanted  the  rough  alliterative  verses  celebrating  the  deeds 
of  the  heroes,  or  perhaps  recalling  similar  exploits  of  their 
ancestors.  At  these  turbulent  feasts,  when  the  warriors 
gorged  themselves  with  roasted  flesh  and  drank  deep  from 
their  horns  of  strong  ale  or  mead,  the  scop  found  a  willing 
audience  to  enjoy  the  impassioned  recital  of  brave  deeds 
by  land  and  sea,  of  man's  bitter  struggle  with  the  elements, 
of  the  strange  workings  of  Wyrd,  or  Fate,  and  of  the  supreme 
mystery  of  death. 

9.  Old  English  Manuscripts.  Comparatively  little  of 
the  earliest  English  literature  has  come  down  to  us.  Much 
of  it  was  destroyed  through  the  ravages  of  time,  but  parti- 
cularly heavy  was  the  loss  incurred  during  the  reign  of  Henry 
VIII,   when   the   monasteries  and    other    religious    houses 


THE  EARLIEST  LITERATURE 


13 


throughout  England  were  pillaged  and  their  property  either 
confiscated  or  given  to  the  flames.  Of  course,  a  great  deal 
of  the  Old  English  poetry  was  never  committed  to  parch- 
ment, but  perished  with  the  singers  themselves.  Our 
greatest  literary  heritage  of  that  period  is  the  unique  manu- 
script of  Beowulf,  which  is  among  the  treasures  of  the  British 
Museum  to-day.  At  Oxford  University  is  preserved  the 
Junius  Manuscript  of  the  works  attributed  to  Caedmon. 
In  Exeter  Cathedral  there  is  a  remarkable  collection  of 
shorter  pieces  in  a 
volume  known  as  the 
Exeter  Book,  which  was 
presented  to  the  Cathe- 
dral Library  by  Arch- 
bishop Leofric  about 
1050.  Equally  interest- 
ing is  the  Vercelli  Book, 
which  was  discovered 
in  1822  in  the  remote 
town  of  Vercelli,  in 
northern  Italy,  where 
it  had  probably  been 
left  centuries  ago  by  some  English  prelate  on  his  way  to 
Rome.  These  four  manuscripts  contain  most  of  the  im- 
portant literary  documents  that  have  survived  from  the 
earliest  period.  In  studying  the  literature  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  we  should  distinguish  between  the  pagan  poetry 
that  was  composed  before  their  conversion,  and  the  Chris- 
tian poetry  which  was  the  work  of  a  later  group  of  writers. 
10.  The  Earliest  Literature.  The  oldest  known  poem 
in  the  language,  the  Widsid,  or  Far  Traveler,  was  probably 
composed  on  the  Continent  before  the  Anglo-Saxons  under- 
took the  conquest  of  Britain.  The  poem  is  a  fragment  of 
143  lines  preserved  in  the  Exeter  Book.  WidsiQ  is  the  name 
of  a  ojleeman  who  unlocks  his  "  word-hoard  "  and  tells  how 


Exeter  Cathedral 


14 


THE   OLD   ENGLISH   PERIOD 


he  fared  forth  over  Europe  and  Asia,  singing  in  many  a  mead- 
hall  and  receiving  gold  rings  and  similar  gifts  from  kings 
whom  he  entertained  with  his  songs.  After  the  recital  of 
his  remarkable  wanderings  he  concludes  that  those  kings 
rule  best  who  are  proud  to  be  praised  by  the  wandering 
gleeman,  and  who  are  generous  givers  to  those  who  sing 
their  praises  till  life  and  light  have  fled  together. 

Another  poem  that  is  also  preserved  in  the  Exeter  Book, 
but  belongs  to  a  much  later  period  than  Widsid,  is  Dear's 

Lament.  It  relates  the 
distress  of  an  unhappy 
scop  who  has  been  sup- 
planted  by  another 
singer  and  bewails  the 
passing  of  his  lord's 
favor  to  a  successful 
rival.  Not  only  has  he 
lost  favor,  but  he  has 
also  become  an  exile, 
deprived  of  his  land- 
right  and  nourishing  a 
consuming  jealousy  in 
his  heart.  He  finds  consolation,  however,  in  the  thought 
that  other  and  greater  men  had  likewise  to  endure  their 
share  of  woe  in  the  changing  fortunes  of  a  fickle  world.  If 
they  got  over  their  troubles,  so  could  he.  Like  Widsid,  this 
shorter  poem  of  42  lines  probably  relates  the  experiences  of  a 
real  minstrel,  but  unlike  the  happy  story  of  Widsid,  it  is  a 
cry  of  sorrow  from  a  heart  that  knew  the  sting  of  ingrati- 
tude. Yet  it  shows  also  the  singer's  spirit  of  courage  in 
adversity  —  a  determination  not  to  be  crushed  by  the 
weight  of  misfortune. 

Several  other  fine  poems  of  much  later  date  in  the  Exeter 
Book  deserve  attention.  The  Wanderer  relates  the  sorrow 
of  a  man  who  has  lost  his  lord.     Friendless  and  forlorn,  he 


A  Viking  Vessel 


THE  STORY  OF  BEOWULF  15 

roams  from  place  to  place,  nursing  his  deep  grief  in  his 
bosom.  Sometimes  in  his  dreams  he  beholds  his  dead  lord 
and  lives  again  the  joys  of  the  past.  When  he  awakes  he 
beholds  the  cold  gray  waves  of  the  ocean  about  the  ship; 
his  heart  is  heavier  because  of  the  scurrying  snow  and  the 
sharp  hail.  A  somewhat  similar  episode  is  found  in  The 
Seafarer',  where  the  miseries  of  traveling  on  the  sea  in  winter 
are  vividly  described.  Little  does  he  who  dwells  on  land 
know  of  the  hardships  of  the  icy  sea,  yet,  in  spite  of  all,  the 
seafarer  does  not  envy  the  landsman.  The  lure  of  the  deep 
is  too  strong;  for  him  the  life  on  land  would  be  a  living  death. 
Both  of  these  poems  reflect  a  love  of  the  sea  that  has  char- 
acterized Englishmen  at  all  periods  of  their  history. 

11.  Beowulf.  The  greatest  of  all  the  Old  English  poems 
is  beyond  all  question  Beowulf,  sl  spirited  epic  of  3183  lines. 
The  poem  appears  to  be  a  welding  together  of  pagan  lays 
that  belong  to  a  period  as  early  as  the  sixth  or  seventh 
centuries,  though  the  existing  version  is  written  in  a  West 
Saxon  dialect  of  the  eleventh  century  and  reveals  the  in- 
fluence of  Christian  scribes  who  made  additions  to  the  older 
heathen  portions  of  the  poem.  It  celebrates  the  glorious 
adventures  of  the  hero  Beowulf,  first  as  a  young  man  in  his 
combats  with  Grendel  and  with  Grendel's  mother;  then, 
in  a  second  part,  fifty  years  later,  as  an  aged  king,  fighting 
his  last  fight  against  a  fire  drake  that  had  been  ravaging 
the  land.  It  is  possible  that  part  of  this  poem  was  written 
before  the  Anglo-Saxons  came  to  England.  The  scene  of 
action  is  in  Denmark  and  along  the  southern  coast  of  Sweden. 

12.  The  Story  of  Beowulf.  Hrothgar,  Kmg  of  the  West 
Danes,  built  for  himself,  not  far  from  the  sea,  a  great 
mead-hall  which  he  named  Heorot,  where  he  expected  to 
feast  with  his  followers  and  enjoy  the  songs  of  his  favorite 
scops.  For  a  while  he  lived  there  in  happiness,  until  one 
night  there  came  a  hideous  monster  named  Grendel,  a 
prowler  from  the  wild  marsh  land,  who  slew  thirty  of  the 


16  THE  OLD   ENGLISH  PERIOD 

sleeping  thanes  and  carried  off  their  bodies  to  his  foul  lair 
in  the  fens.  Not  only  on  the  next  night  did  the  same  thing 
happen  again,  but  whenever  thereafter  the  monster  heard 
the  sounds  of  festivity  in  the  hall.  No  one  seemed  able  to 
cope  with  this  terrible  foe,  since  his  body  was  proof  against 
sword-thrust.  Heorot  stood  as  a  place  accursed  and  for 
twelve  long  winters  the  West  Danes  suffered  great  grief. 

Finally  the  story  of  Grendel's  misdeeds  reached  the  ears 
of  a  young  hero  named  Beowulf  who  dwelt  across  the  sea 
at  the  court  of  his  uncle  King  Hygelac,  in  southern  Sweden. 
He  determined  to  go  to  King  Hrothgar's  aid.  Accom- 
panied by  a  group  of  brave  warriors  he  embarked  in  a 
"  foamy-necked  floater,  most  like  to  a  bird  "  and  made  his 
way  across  the  deep.  Beowulf  and  his  gallant  companions, 
attired  in  their  shining  armor,  w^ere  ushered  into  the  presence 
of  Hrothgar,  and  after  the  exchange  of  greetings  Beowulf 
asked  permission  to  encounter  the  monster  in  Heorot  that 
night.  Hrothgar  agreed  and  in  the  evening  the  party 
assembled  to  quaff  mead  and  listen  to  the  inspiring  song  of 
the  gleemen.  After  Wealtheow,  the  Queen  of  Hrothgar, 
had  distributed  gifts  to  the  thanes,  the  royal  pair  withdrew 
with  their  attendants  while  Beowulf  and  his  followers  lay 
down  to  rest,  awaiting  the  coming  of  Grendel. 

Soon  the  monster  came  striding  over  the  moors,  bent 
upon  the  destruction  of  those  who  had  remained  in  Heorot. 
He  made  his  way  into  the  hall  in  wrathful  mood,  fire  blazing 
from  his  eyes.  He  seized  one  of  the  sleeping  warriors, 
crunched  the  victim  with  his  pow^erful  jaws  and  devoured 
him  on  the  spot.  Then  he  reached  for  Beowulf,  but  the 
alert  hero  grappled  with  Grendel.  The  monster  found 
himself  in  such  a  handgrip  as  he  had  never  known  before. 
Back  and  forth  they  struggled,  each  striving  to  gain  ad- 
vantage. Soon  Grendel  had  enough  of  the  fray,  but  Beowulf 
would  not  release  his  firm  grasp.  The  mead-hall  thundered 
with  the  noise  of  combat,  tables  and  benches  were  over- 


THE  COMING  OF  GRENDEL'S   MOTHER       17 

turned.  Suddenly  there  arose  a  terrible  cry  as  of  one  in 
extreme  agony.  Beowulf's  earls  drew  their  swords  to  aid 
their  leader,  not  knowing,  perhaps,  that  the  choicest  of 
blades  could  not  pierce  the  loathsome  fiend.  The  terrible 
wail  came  from  the  throat  of  the  monster,  now  conscious 
of  defeat.  A  deep  wound  appeared  in  his  shoulder,  the 
sinews  snapped  —  in  a  moment  the  arm,  tightly  clutched 
by  Beowulf,  gave  way  and  the  sorely  wounded  Grendel 
rushed  away  to  his  noisome  fen,  knowing  full  well  that  his 
days  were  numbered. 

In  the  morning  there  was  joy  among  Hrothgar's  people 
when  they  learned  of  Beowulf's  exploit  and  marveled  at  the 
huge  arm  and  shoulder  that  Grendel  had  left  behind.  War- 
riors came  from  far  and  near  to  behold  the  wonder.  Several 
followed  the  trail  of  blood  that  the  dying  foe  had  left  behind 
him  and  came  at  last  to  the  water's  side,  boiling  with  gore, 
where  Grendel  had  leaped  in  to  reach  his  hidden  cave.  All 
took  part  in  the  great  rejoicing  and  gave  thanks  to  the 
Almighty.  Quickly  they  repaired  the  harm  done  in  Heorot 
and  the  great  mead-hall  became  once  more  the  scene  of  fes- 
tivity. Rich  gifts  were  bestowed  upon  Beowulf  for  his  valor, 
and  after  the  feasting  he  went  to  the  palace  with  Hrothgar, 
while  his  men  with  the  others  went  to  their  rest  in  Heorot. 

13.  The  Coming  of  GrendePs  Mother.  During  the  night 
there  came  another  wretched  creature  who  dwelt  in  the 
dismal  icy  waters  —  Grendel's  mother,  now  eager  with 
desire  to  wTcak  vengeance  for  her  dead  son.  Before  the 
sleeping  warriors  could  bestir  themselves  she  had  seized 
and  carried  off  one  of  them,  Aeschere,  the  counselor  and 
dearest  friend  of  Hrothgar.  Loud  was  the  lamentation 
of  the  Xing  when  he  heard  of  his  loss.  He  described  to 
Beowulf  the  gloomy  headlands  that  had  been  the  haunt  of 
the  monsters  —  a  dismal  spot  where  dank  woods  overhang 
the  surface  of  the  perilous  fen  and  where  at  night  ghastly 
flashes  of  light  pass  over  the  troubled  waters.     No  one  knew 


18  THE  OLD   ENGLISH  PERIOD 

the  depth  of  the  flood.  So  accursed  was  the  place  that  even 
the  hunted  stag,  closely  pursued  by  the  hounds,  would  die 
upon  the  brink  rather  than  seek  safety  in  tiie  water.  Beowulf 
w^as  in  no  wise  appalled  by  the  terrors  of  the  undertaking. 
Accompanied  by  his  trusty  men,  he  set  out  over  the  stony 
gorges  and  waste  regions  till  they  reached  the  horrid  pool, 
where  on  the  shore  they  found  the  head  of  the  unfortunate 
Aeschere,  while  in  the  blood-stained  waters  strange  sea- 
monsters  and  serpents  were  swimming  about.  Reckless 
of  danger,  Beowulf  girt  on  his  armor  and  plunged  into  the 
flood.  For  a  day's  space,  as  it  seemed,  he  sank  until  he 
reached  a  roofed  hall  where  there  was  no  water.  Therein 
he  saw  the  monster  whom  he  sought.  She  grasped  him 
with  her  claws,  but  could  not  break  through  his  coat  of  mail. 
Soon  they  were  engaged  in  fierce  struggle,  and  Beowulf 
found  even  his  fine-tempered  sword  useless  against  the  foe. 
She  likewise  was  balked  in  her  effort  to  pierce  his  braided 
breast-net.  For  a  time  the  issue  was  doubtful,  but  Beowulf 
saw  in  the  cave  a  huge  sword  wrought  by  the  giants  of  old 
—  a  weapon  beyond  the  strength  of  man  to  w  ield.  This  he 
grasped  and  struck  her  furiously  on  the  neck,  so  that  she 
fell  dead  upon  the  floor.  Looking  about  the  loathsome 
dwelling  he  saw  in  a  dim  corner  the  lifeless  body  of  Grendel. 
When  Beowulf  with  his  huge  sword  cut  off  the  head  of  the 
monster,  the  blade  melted  as  ice  in  the  venomous  blood  and 
only  the  hilt  was  left  in  his  hand.  Beowulf  took  none  of 
the  wondrous  treasures  that  he  saw,  but  returned  to  the 
surface  of  the  waters,  carrying  only  the  head  of  Grendel 
and  the  sword-hilt.  Long  and  joyous  was  the  feasting  when 
the  West  Danes  learned  of  Beowulf's  exploits  and  knew  that 
at  last  they  could  dwell  in  Heorot  free  from  care.  Beowulf 
presented  the  sword-hilt  to  Hrothgar,  who  in  turn  loaded 
Beowulf's  ship  with  weapons,  steeds,  and  gold.  Thus  re- 
warded, he  sailed  back  to  his  homeland,  where  he  ruled 
wisely  over  his  people  for  the  space  of  fifty  years. 


THE  FIGHT   WITH  THE   DRAGON  19 

14.  The  Fight  with  the  Dragon.  The  third  and  most 
difficult  of  Beowulf's  adventures  came  in  his  old  age  when 
he  encountered  a  fire  drake  or  dragon  that  had  been  guard- 
ing a  treasure-hoard  for  three  hundred  years  and  had  begun 
to  ravage  the  land  because  part  of  the  treasure  had  been 
stolen  by  a  slave.  Beowulf  knew  the  danger  of  this  fight 
and  had  fashioned  for  himseK  a  shield  of  iron,  because  a 
shield  of  wood  was  no  protection  against  the  fire-breathing 
foe.  In  spite  of  his  years  he  went  bravely  forth  to  face  the 
dragon  amidst  the  crags  w^here  the  monster  lurked.  Terror- 
stricken  his  comrades  nearby  saw  him  and  the  dragon  en- 
veloped in  deadly  fire.  Their  fear  was  such  that  they  fled 
to  the  forest  for  safety.  Again  and  again  the  dragon  rushed 
at  Beowulf.  The  aged  warrior  struck  at  the  monster's 
head;  the  sword  snapped  asunder  at  the  sharp  stroke.  A 
brave  comrade  named  Wiglaf  rushed  to  his  aid  and  together 
they  finally  did  the  dragon  to  death,  but  not  before  Beowulf 
had  breathed  the  fatal  flames  that  betokened  the  end  of  his 
own  career.  As  the  hero  lay  dying,  Wiglaf  brought  forth 
the  treasures  from  the  dragon's  cave,  and  Beowulf  beheld 
in  sorrow  the  gold  that  he  had  won  for  his  people.  He  knew 
that  his  end  was  near  and  met  his  fate  as  one  who  had  lived 
bravely.  He  asked  the  warriors  to  build  a  barrow  after 
the  burning  of  his  body  to  be  as  a  remembrance  to  his  people 
and  that  it  might  be  seen  afar  off  across  the  mist  of  the 
waters  by  seafaring  men.  Then,  after  giving  his  gold 
collar  and  his  armor  to  a  young  thane,  he  said  that  all  his 
kinsmen  had  been  swept  away,  that  earls  in  their  strength 
had  gone  to  their  Maker,  and  that  he  must  follow.  Those 
were  his  last  words.  The  cowardly  warriors  who  had  taken 
refuge  in  the  wood  now  came  out  and  were  rebuked  by  Wiglaf. 
In  accordance  with  Beowulf's  commands,  the  dragon  was 
cast  into  the  sea,  and  the  dead  hero's  body  was  burned  on 
an  imposing  pyre.  A  monumental  barrow  was  built  over 
his  ashes,  and  in  the  barrow  was  placed  the  dragon's  treasure. 


20  THE  OLD   ENGLISH   PERIOD 

The   poem   ends   with   the    lamentation    of  the    mourners 
and  a  recital  of  the  noble  qualities  of  the  departed  hero. 

15.  The  Significance  of  Beowulf.  Many  attempts  have 
been  made  to  interpret  this  fine  old  epic  as  more  than  a 
story  of  heroic  adventure.  One  theory  would  make  the 
hero  Beowulf  a  sort  of  sun-god,  representing  the  genial  life- 
giving  quality  of  the  orb  of  day,  while  Grendel  typifies  the 
cold  night,  the  mist,  the  malarial  pestilence  from  the  swamps 
which  the  power  of  the  sun  overcomes.  Another  w^ould 
make  of  Beowulf  the  impersonation  of  determined  mankind 
fighting  for  existence  against  the  encroachment  of  the  sea 
and  against  the  other  unfavorable  forces  of  nature.  Still 
another  explains  that  Grendel  is  a  bear  —  a  "  grinder  of 
bones "  —  representing  the  forces  of  brute  creation  that 
must  be  overcome  if  man  is  to  be  supreme.  Whatever  fan- 
ciful meanings  the  critics  may  read  into  Beowulf,  the  fact 
remains  that  it  is  the  finest  poem  of  our  early  literature,  with 
stirring  pictures  of  life  in  the  days  of  the  primitive  Saxon 
warriors  and  sea-rovers. 

16.  Other  Pagan  Poems.  Apart  from  Beowulf  there  is 
very  little  epic  poetry  that  has  come  down  to  us  from  the 
earlier  period.  There  is  a  fine  fragment  of  fifty  lines  called 
Finnshurhy  describing  a  brave  defense  of  Finn's  fortress 
against  a  strong  attacking  party.  We  have  also  two  shorter 
fragments  of  a  poem  known  as  Waldhere,  which  relate  the 
heroic  exploits  of  Waltharius, .  who  when  a  child  was  given 
as  a  hostage  to  Attila,  King  of  the  Huns,  and  who  grew  up 
to  be  a  great  general.  The  story  was  very  popular  in  other 
countries  and  may  still  be  read  in  a  Latin  version.  These 
pagan  fragments  in  Old  English  give  us  a  hint  of  the  variety 
that  prevailed  in  the  epic  poetry  of  those  early  days,  but 
Beowulf  remains  the  one  supreme  example  of  Anglo-Saxon 
heroic  verse  at  its  best. 

17.  Conversion  to  Christianity.  While  Christianity  had 
first  exerted   its   influence   in   Britain   during   the   Roman 


CONVERSION  TO   CHRISTIANITY 


21 


period  and  particularly  through  the  efforts  of  Irish  mission- 
aries, the  conquest  by  the  Anglo-Saxons  introduced  the  pagan 
worship  of  Woden  and  Thor,  which  became  general  during 
the  century  following  then-  arrival.     In  597  St.  Augustme 
was  sent   from   Rome   by   Pope   Gregory   I   and  within   a 
year  won  ten  thousand  converts  to  the   Christian  religion. 
Christianity  spread  rapidly,   although  some  of  the  Saxon 
leaders  hesitated  to   accept  it,  naively  explaining  that  it 
might    offend    the    older    heathen    gods.     Augustine    was 
consecrated     Archbishop 
and  founded  the  cathe- 
dral  church    at  Canter- 
bury, where  he   died  in 
604.     Others  carried  the 
faith    to     Northumbria, 
where   zealous  men  and 
women      established 
a    number    of    religious 
orders     for     those     who 
wished  to  Hve  a  life  of 
piety  and  contemplation. 
In  657  the  Abbess  Hild,  a 
woman    of   royal   blood, 
founded  her  community 
in  a  majestic  abbey  on  a  cliff  overlooking  the  North  Sea  at 
Whitby   in  Yorkshire.     Still  further  north,   at  Jarrow  on 
the  Tyne,  was  established  the  monastery  associated  with 
the  memory  of  Bade  (673-735).     This  gentle  scholar,  often 
spoken  of  as  the  "  Venerable  Bede,"  wrote  a  great  many 
works  in  Latin,  including  an  important  Ecclesiastical  History 
of  the  English  People.     His  only  work  in  English  was  a  trans- 
lation of  the  Gospel  of  St.  John,  but  unfortunately  that 
version  has  been  lost.     The  aged  scholar  was  at  work  on 
it  just  before  his  death,  but  he  became  too  weak  to  write 
and  had  to  dictate  to  a  young  scribe.     On  the  last  day  of 


Whitby  Abbey 


22  .    THE  OLD  ENGLISH   PERIOD 

his  life  he  worked  on  the  final  chapter.  In  the  evening 
the  scribe  said,  "There  is  yet  one  sentence  to  write."  He 
answered,  "Write  quickly."  Presently  the  youth  said,  "Now 
it  is  finished."  He  replied,  "Thou  hast  said  the  truth,  it 
is  finished."      Soon  thereafter  he  breathed  his  last. 

18.  Caedmon.  In  Bede's  history  we  find  the  story  of 
Caedmon,  the  first  Christian  poet  of  England.  The  scene 
of  the  interesting  episode  was  in  the  religious  community 
at  Whitby.  The  inmates  were  wont  to  gather  in  the  even- 
ing and  take  turns  in  singing  to  the  music  of  the  harp. 
Caedmon,  who  was  a  humble  cowherd,  always  enjoyed 
those  occasions,  but  whenever  it  came  near  his  turn  to  sing 
he  slipped  quietly  away,  because  he  was  an  ignorant  man 
and  had  not  mastered  the  art  of  the  scop.  This  continued 
for  many  years  during  which  Caedmon,  as  he  waxed  older, 
deplored  the  fact  that  he  could  not  sing  as  the  rest  did.  One 
night,  after  he  had  crept  away  from  the  cheerful  circle,  he 
fell  asleep  in  the  stable,  where  he  had  charge  of  the  cattle, 
and  in  his  sleep  he  beheld  a  shining  apparition  of  the  Lord. 
The  figure  addressed  him  saying,  **  Caedmon,  sing  to  me!  " 
Caedmon  replied:  "  I  know  not  how  to  sing;  it  was  for  that 
reason  I  left  the  feast  to-night."  But  the  voice  continued, 
"  None  the  less  you  shall  sing  to  me."  "  What  shall  I  sing?  " 
asked  Caedmon.  "  Sing  the  beginning  of  created  things," 
was  the  answer.  In  his  dream  Caedmon  then  framed  a 
song  dealing  with  the  story  of  Creation,  and  when  he  awoke 
next  morning  he  related  his  strange  experience  to  his  com- 
panions. The  story  was  carried  to  the  Abbess  Hild,  who 
asked  him  to  repeat  the  song  he  had  made  in  his  dream. 
Thereupon,  when  they  heard  it,  all  agreed  that  Caedmon 
had  been  divinely  inspired.  He  became  a  monk  and  pro- 
ceeded to  paraphrase  other  parts  of  the  Bible  story  into 
Saxon  verse.  Because  of  his  mysterious  inspiration  he  was 
never  able  to  compose  idle  or  frivolous  verses,  but  only 
those  that  it  became  his  pious  tongue  to  sing. 


CYNEWULF  23 

A  large  number  of  religious  poems  contained  in  a  manu- 
script now  preserved  in  the  Bodleian  Library  at  Oxford 
University  were  formerly  attributed  to  Caedmon.  The 
most  important  of  these  are  known  as  Genesis,  Exodus,  and 
Daniel.  These  were  probably  the  work  of  different  poets 
who  were  inspired  by  the  example  of  Caedmon.  Another 
poem  of  the  Caedmonian  school,  though  of  a  later  period, 
is  the  spirited  fragment  of  Judith,  which  tells  of  the  drunken 
revels  of  Holof ernes  and  his  followers,  the  slaying  of  the 
Assyrian  prince,  and  the  rout  of  his  followers.  About  the 
only  existing  poem  that  may  be  accepted  as  the  genuine 
work  of  Caedmon  is  a  short  hymn  of  nine  lines  in  praise  of 
the  Creator. 

19.  Cynewulf.  The  first  important  name  in  English 
poetry  is  that  of  Cynewulf,  yet  we  know  little  more  about 
the  poet  than  his  name.  There  has  been  much  discussion 
as  to  the  identity  of  this  early  singer.  The  most  favored 
view  is  that  he  was  a  Northumbrian  or  Mercian  scholar 
who  lived  during  the  latter  part  of  the  eighth  century.  He 
seems  to  have  known  the  favor  of  princes  in  his  time  and 
to  have  reached  a  ripe  age  that  became  somewhat  burden- 
some to  him.  He  inserted  his  signature  in  runes,  or  early 
Germanic  letters,  in  the  four  important  poems  that  are 
accepted  as  his  work.  These  poems  are  Crist,  Jidiana, 
The  Fates  of  the  Apostles,  and  Elene. 

Crist  is  the  first  poem  that  occurs  in  the  Exeter  Book,  but 
we  lack  the  opening  of  the  poem  because  the  first  eight 
pages  of  the  precious  book  have  been  lost.  As  the  title 
suggests,  it  deals  with  the  life  of  Christ  and  is  divided  into 
three  parts.  There  is  some  question  as  to  whether  Cyne- 
wulf WTote  the  first  and  third  parts.  Crist  reveals  the 
strong  influence  of  Latin  Christianity  on  England  and  indi- 
cates that  the  author  was  a  man  gifted  with  an  original  mind. 

Juliana  is  also  found  in  the  Exeter  Book,  coming  im- 
mediately after  Crist.     It  tells  the  story  of  Saint  Juliana, 


54 


THE  OLD   ENGLISH  PERIOD 


Durham  Cathedral 


a  virgin  martyr  who  lived  in  the  days  of  the  Roman  emperor 
Maximian.  After  enduring  various  temptations,  including 
an  offer  of  marriage  from  a  pagan,  and  routing  the  devil  in 
person,   she   sufi'ers   martyrdom.     It   is   a   less   meritorious 

poem  than  Cristy  and 
the  same  is  true  of 
The  Fates  of  the 
Apostles,  which  is  pre- 
served in  the  Vercelli 
Book. 

The  fourth  poem, 
Elene,  is  regarded  as 
Cynewulf 's  masterpiece. 
It  narrates  the  dis- 
covery of  the  true  cross 
by  Helena,  mother  of  the 
emperor  Constantine. 
The  story  is  associated 
with  the  more  famous  legend  of  Constantine 's  vision  of  the 
cross  bearing  the  inscription  in  hoc  signo  vinces.  The  poem  is 
written  in  simple  but  vivid  style  and  contains  beautiful 
descriptive  passages.  It  is  one  of  the  finest  poems  in  the 
Vercelli  Book. 

20.  Other  Poems.  In  addition  to  these  compositions 
that  are  generally  accepted  as  the  w^ork  of  Cynewulf,  cer- 
tain other  poems  have  been  attributed  to  him.  Among 
these  are:  The  Dream  of  the  Rood,  Andreas,  and  Phoenix. 
The  Dream  of  the  Rood  (meaning  the  true  cross)  has  much  in 
common  with  Elene,  and  is  also  in  the  Vercelli  Book.  Some 
critics  regard  it  as  the  most  imaginative  of  all  the  Old  English 
poems.  It  is,  indeed,  the  only  specimen  of  dream-poem 
before  the  Norman  Conquest.  The  poet  in  a  vision  beholds 
the  sacred  cross  bright  with  dazzling  gems.  As  he  watches 
it  the  rood  changes;  the  jewels  have  been  transformed  to 
blood.     As  he  continues  to  gaze  in  wonder  the  rood  speaks; 


THE   COMING  OF  THE  DANES  25 

it  tells  the  story  of  the  Crucifixion  and  the  Resurrection. 
The  poem  ends  with  the  singer's  meditation  over  the  miracle 
he  has  witnessed. 

Andreas  relates  the  mission  of  Saint  Andrew,  who  is 
commanded  by  Heaven  to  go  to  the  aid  of  Saint  Matthew, 
then  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  the  Mermedonians.  He  is 
himself  captured  and  tortured,  but  works  a  miracle  whereby 
he  not  only  secures  his  freedom,  but  also  converts  a  savage 
tribe.  This  poem  is  noteworthy  for  its  fine  descriptions  of 
the  sea.  Even  The  Seafarer  must  yield  to  its  vivid  pic- 
tures of  the  raging  storm  and  to  its  account  of  man's  titanic 
struggle  with  wind  and  wave. 

Phoenix  is  partly  an  allegorical  poem,  based  on  a  mythical 
Oriental  bird,  the  one  of  its  kind  in  all  the  world,  that  comes 
to  a  sacred  altar  at  the  end  of  five  hundred  years  to  be 
consumed  in  flames.  Thereupon  from  the  ashes  arises  a 
new-born  phoenix  to  live  the  next  five  centuries.  Here  we 
find  unusual  brilliance  of  description;  accounts  of  blessed 
lands  afar,  free  from  the  stinging  frost  or  the  headlong  dash 
of  hail  —  a  land  of  genial  warmth  abounding  in  fair  fields 
and  sunny  groves.  Evidently  the  author  of  this  poem  knew 
something  of  other  realms  than  England. 

21.  The  Coming  of  the  Danes.  The  peaceful  progress 
of  the  Anglo-Saxons  was  interrupted  by  invasions  of  maraud- 
ing tribes  of  Danes  who  crossed  the  North  Sea,  first  on 
plundering  expeditions,  but  later  with  the  evident  inten- 
tion of  conquering  the  land.  The  warlike  Anglo-Saxons 
who  had  wrested  possession  of  Britain  from  the  Celts  were 
succeeded  by  generations  of  less  virile  descendants  who 
were  not  a  match  for  the  hardy  Danes.  During  the  reign 
of  King  Alfred  (871-901)  the  invaders  succeeded  in  forcing 
the  English  army  into  the  small  kingdom  of  Wessex,  south 
of  the  Thames.  All  the  rest  of  England  was  for  a  time  in 
their  hands.  Alfred's  son,  Edward  the  Elder,  and  his 
grandson,  Athelstan,  succeeded  in  driving  back  the  Danes, 


THE   OLD   ENGLISH   PERIOD 


but  during  the  inglorious  reign  of  Aethelred  the  Unready 
(978-1016)  the  Danes  and  Northmen  swarmed  over  England 
and  finally  drove  the  King  from  the  throne  after  Aethelred 
had  repeatedly  bribed  them  with  the  payment  of  the  so- 
called  Danegeld  to  desist  from  their  attacks.  For  more 
than  twenty  years  the  Danes  ruled  over  England,  until  in 
1042  Edward  the  Confessor  became  King.  His  long  and 
peaceful  reign  covered  a  period  to  within  a  few  months  of 
the  Norman  Conquest. 

The  coming  of  the  Danes  had  less  influence  on  the  lan- 
guage of  England  than  might  be  supposed.  Their  language, 
like  that  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  was  Teutonic  in  character 
and  offered  little  that  the  Saxons  did  not  already  possess 
in  their  own  tongue.  The  long-continued  struggles  for  the 
fertile  sections  of  the  country,  however,  brought  to  an  end 
the  poetic  activity  of  the  preceding  age.     The  new  period 

was  one  of  prose,  in  which  the 
writings  were  practical  and 
educational  in  character.  Only 
in  a  few  instances  did  the  old 
poetic  inspiration  reveal  itself 
in  a  new  outburst  of  warsong 
or  of  religious  emotion. 

22.  King  Alfred.  No 
sovereign  of  England  before 
the  Norman  Conquest  was  more 
deserving  of  the  surname  "  the 
Great  *'  than  King  Alfred,  and 
no  personality  takes  higher 
rank  than  his  in  the  early 
literary  history  of  his  country. 
In  fact,  no  country  of  western  Europe  could  at  that  time 
boast  of  so  rich  and  important  a  literature  as  Alfred  brought 
into  being  during  his  reign.  His  grandfather  Egbert  had 
been  the  first  Khig  of  united  England;  his  father  Aethelwulf, 


Alfred  Learning  to  Read 


KING  ALFRED  27 

had  been  succeeded  on  the  throne  by  four  sons,  of  whom 
Alfred  was  the  youngest.  The  story  of  his  life  is  familiar 
because  of  the  many  legends  and  anecdotes  that  have  sur- 
vived to  our  day.  Born  in  849,  Alfred  soon  showed  his  at- 
tainments by  learning  to  read  before  his  three  older  brothers, 
thereby  winning  a  prize  offered  by  their  mother.  When  he 
became  King  at  twenty-two  he  quickly  revealed  the  fine 
quaUties  of  leadership  that  marked  his  entire  reign.  Many 
of  the  English  monasteries  and  other  seats  of  learning  had 
been  sacked  by  the  Danes.  Lindisfarne,  Jarrow,  Melrose, 
and  Whitby  had  been  either  plundered  or  totally  destroyed. 
Alfred  promptly  invited  scholars  from  abroad  and  en- 
couraged the  study  of  Latin.  But  he  was  not  satisfied 
merely  to  restore  the  learning  that  had  flourished  earlier 
in  the  quiet  retreat  of  the  Christian  sanctuaries.  He  wished 
to  bring  the  wisdom  of  the  w^orld  within  reach  of  the  great 
mass  of  his  people;  he  wanted  to  reach  the  uncultured 
group  who  could  not  pursue  the  severe  mental  discipline  of 
the  cloister.  Alfred  determined  to  make  himself  their 
teacher  by  translating  for  them  important  books  on  phi- 
losophy, history,  and  geography  that  had  been  written  in 
Latin  by  learned  men.  More  than  this,  he  directed  the 
scholars  of  his  own  day  to  gather  the  facts  concerning  the 
early  history  of  the  country  and  thus  accumulate  a  mass 
of  historical  lore  to  be  handed  on  to  later  generations.  In 
his  translations  from  the  Latin  he  used  good  judgment  in 
omitting,  expanding,  or  changing  any  passages  whenever 
he  thought  such  changes  would  be  for  the  benefit  of  his 
people. 

Among  the  works  that  Alfred  translated  from  the  Latin 
were:  Pastoral  Care,  by  Pope  Gregory,  a  book  written  for 
the  guidance  of  clergy  in  caring  for  their  flocks;  the  History 
of  the  World,  written  by  the  Spanish  monk  Orosius  in  the 
fifth  century,  to  which  Alfred  added  considerable  material 
to  bring  its  history  and  geography  to  date;  the  Ecclesiastical 


THE  OLD  ENGLISH  PERIOD 


History  of  Bede,  wherein  much  of  the  original  matter  was 
omitted  by  Alfred;  the  Consolation  of  Philosophy^  one  of 
the  great  works  of  the  Middle  Ages,  written  by  Boethius,  a 
Roman  of  the  sixth  century.  Boethius,  who  was  often  called 
*'  the  last  of  the  Romans,"  lived  in  the  days  of  King  Theo- 
doric  and  was  under  sentence  of  death  at  the  time  he  wrote 
this  remarkable  dialogue  between  himself  and  Philosophy. 
There  was  much  of  the  spirit  of  the 
Greek  philosopher  Plato  in  this  work, 
which  was  frequently  translated  into 
other  languages  and  was  rendered  into 
English  at  later  periods  by  Chaucer  and 
by  Queen  Elizabeth. 

Alfred  likewise  translated  for  popular 
information  a  rather  complicated  Code 
of  Laws,  but  this  Code  is  of  historical 
rather  than  literary  interest.  Other 
translations  are  attributed  to  Alfred  on 
more  or  less  plausible  grounds,  but 
enough  is  definitely  known  to  be  his 
work  to  make  him  beyond  all  question 
the  most  important  figure  in  our  early 
prose  literature.  We  must  remember 
that  Alfred  contributed  a  great  deal  of 
original  matter  to  the  texts  that  he 
rendered  into  English.  He  must  not  be 
regarded  as  a  mere  translator  of  other  men's  ideas,  but  as  one 
who  took  the  best  of  what  he  found  elsewhere  and  added  his 
own  valuable  contribution  for  the  education  of  his  subjects. 
23.  Aelfric.  Among  the  later  writers  of  the  period  there 
is  none  so  distinctive  as  Aelfric  (95.5  ?-l 025?),  a  theologian 
who  followed  the  example  set  by  Alfred.  His  compilations 
and  translations  were  taken  mainly  from  the  writings  of  the 
Latin  Fathers  and  consisted  of  Homilies  and  Lives  of  the 
Saints.     Aelfric  lived  at  Winchester,  the  most  famous  of 


King  Alfred 


THE  CHRONICLE 


the  schools  of  that  period.  His  prose  was  not  merely  of 
very  poetical  character,  but  employed  the  grace  of  allitera- 
tion that  was  common  to  the  poetry  of  that  period.  In  addi- 
tion to  his  English  works  he  wrote  a  Latin  grammar  for  the 
use  of  novices  at  Winchester  and  also  a  Latin  Colloquy 
which  describes  an  interesting  conversation  between  a 
teacher,  a  novice,  and  several  other  persons  representing 
the  various  occupations  of  the  age.  Aelfric  was  also  one 
of  the  authors  of  an  extensive  paraphrase  based  on  the  first 
seven  books  of  the  Bible.  Among  the  theologians  who 
wrote  in  English  there  was  no  more  important  figure  previous 
to  the  Reformation  than  xALclfric. 

24.  The  Chronicle.  The  English  Chronicle,  which  was 
probably  begun  in  the  reign  of  Alfred,  was  continued  year 
by  year  in  several  copies 
that  existed  in  various 
parts  of  the  land.  All 
kinds  of  events — church 
history,  wars,  eclipses, 
current  happenings,  and 
what  not  —  were  record- 
ed. It  was  continued  as 
late  as  1154,  so  that  its 
language,  which  at  first 
was  the  pure  Old  English 
of  the  tenth  century, 
changed  to  a  well-defined 
Middle  English  before 
the  narrative  came  to  an  end  at  Peterborough  in  the  days  of 
King  Stephen.  This  lengthy  compilation  is  a  most  im- 
portant source  of  material  for  historical  writers,  though 
many  of  the  earlier  entries,  copied  from  Bede  and  similar 
Latin  sources,  were  of  very  uncertain  authority.  The  entry 
for  each  year  varies  from  one  line  to  several  pages.  A  few 
modernized  extracts  will  give  some  idea  of  its  historical  value : 


1 

Si^^     /         .|,       \'^,.  ^■ 

Peterborough  Cathedral 


30  THE  OLD  ENGLISH  PERIOD 

671.    This  year  happened  the  great  destruction  among  fowls. 

774.  This  year  there  appeared  a  red  cross  in  the  sky  after 
sunset;  and  the  Mercians  and  the  Kentish  men  fought 
together  at  Otford,  and  wondrous  serpents  were  seen  in 
the  South  Saxon's  land. 

991.  This  year  Ipswich  was  harried;  and  shortly  after  that  the 
aldorman  Bryhtnoth  was  slain  at  Maldon.  And  in  that 
year  it  was  decreed  for  the  first  time  that  tribute  should 
be  paid  to  the  Danes  because  of  the  great  fear  which  they 
wrought  on  the  sea  coast;  it  was,  at  first,  ten  thousand 
pounds.    Archbishop  Siric  first  gave  that  counsel. 

The  second  incident  mentioned  under  the  year  991  was 
the  subject  of  a  virile  poem  called  The  Battle  of  Maldon, 
or  Bryhtnotlt's  Death,  which  describes  how  heroically  the 
English  went  down  in  defeat  in  that  terrible  slaughter.  It 
is  interesting  to  note  that  in  the  later  entries  of  the  Chronicle 
are  several  poems.  The  best  of  these  is  The  Battle  of  Bruiian- 
burh,  celebrating  the  great  victory  (937)  of  Alfred's  grandson 
Athelstan  over  the  Danes.  Tennyson  made  a  splendid 
translation  of  that  poem  into  modern  English. 

25.  Development  of  the  Language.  The  language  of  the 
Old  English  period  represented  a  diversity  of  dialects  that 
varied  in  pronunciation,  in  grammatical  inflections,  and  in 
vocabulary.  In  the  course  of  time  these  differences  became 
less  marked  and  a  more  uniform  speech  prevailed  throughout 
England.  During  the  earjier  period  the  greatest  literary 
activity  was  in  Northumbria  and  the  texts  of  the  early  poets 
are  for  the  most  part  in  northern  dialects.  In  the  later 
periods,  when  prose  became  predominant,  the  literary 
supremacy  passed  to  Wessex.  The  works  of  Alfred  and  of 
Aelfric  were  written  in  the  southern  dialect.  It  was  for- 
merly supposed  that  the  Anglo-Saxons  had  borrowed  exten- 
sively from  Celtic  dialects  when  they  conquered  England, 
but  we  now  know  that  this  was  not  the  case.  Place  names, 
however,  were  frequently  retained,  so  that  the  Celtic  name 
of  a  river  or  mountain  may  persist  to  this  day.     Thus  Avo?i 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  LANGUAGE         31 

or  Esk  means  water.  Pen  or  Ben  means  mountain.  From 
the  Latin  castra  {fortified  camp)  developed  such  place 
names  as  Tadcaster,  Doncaster,  Worcester,  and  Cirencester, 
From  the  Danish  by  {town  or  settlement)  came  such  names 
as  Whitby,  Grimsby,  and  Somersby.  A  few  Latin  words,  like 
wine,  pound,  wall,  and  street,  had  entered  the  language  while 
the  Anglo-Saxons  still  lived  on  the  Continent.  Most  of 
the  borrowings  of  the  Old  English  period  were  church  words, 
such  as  apostle,  bishop,  alms,  creed,  organ,  candle,  priest, 
and  monk.  Borrowings  from  the  Danish  are  less  easy  to 
determine,  because  they  belong  to  the  same  Teutonic  stock, 
but  we  may  set  down  cast,  die,  drown,  happy,  haven,  low, 
meek,  scare,  skill,  skin,  sky,  and  take  as  Danish  words.  In 
spite  of  the  devotion  to  learning  manifested  in  the  monas- 
teries and  other  religious  establishments  of  those  days,  the 
English  language  was  still  a  group  of  rather  diverse  dialects 
when  the  Old  English  period  drew  to  a  close  at  the  time  of  the 
Norman  Conquest. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  ANGLO-NORMAN  PERIOD 

1.  The  Norman  Conquest.  Probably  no  other  event 
m  Enghsh  history  had  such  a  significant  influence  upon 
EngHsh  Hterature  as  the  overthrow  of  Saxon  power  at  the 
Battle  of  Hastings  in  1066.  William,  Duke  of  Normandy, 
had  no  strong  claim  to  the  English  throne,  but  he  was  an 
ambitious  man  bent  upon  extending  his  domain.  The 
Normans  (really  North-men)  were  originally  of  the  same 
Teutonic  stock  as  the  Anglo-Saxons.  About  the  ninth 
century  they  settled  in  France,  intermarried  with  the  in- 
habitants, and  accepted  the  French  language  as  their  own. 
During  the  next  two  centuries  they  developed  those  racial 
qualities  that  made  them  very  different  from  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  in  mental  and  physical  characteristics.  The  Nor- 
mans becajiie  a  lithe,  alert,  and  highly  imaginative  race; 
the  Anglo-Saxons  were  inclined  to  be  stolid,  sluggish,  and 
slow-witted.  The  Saxons,  however,  possessed  the  admi- 
rable traits  of  perseverance,  stability,  and  common^nse 
that  were  apt  to  be  lacking  in  the  Normans.  When  William 
landed  on  the  southern  coast  of  Britain  to  give  battle  to 
Harold,  who  had  been  elected  King  after  the  death  of  Edward 
the  Confessor,  there  may  have  been  some  doubt  as  to  the 
result  of  the  ensuing  battle;  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  de- 
cisive victory  of  the  Normans  was  for  the  lasting  benefit 
of  England.  WiUiam  the  Conqueror,  as  he  was  then  called, 
gave  the  country  a  strongly  centralized  government,  and 
though  he  ruled  with  a  hand  of  iron  was,  in  the  main,  a  just 
king  for  those  rough  times.     Poets  and  novelists  of  later 

32 


NORMAN  INFLUENCE 


33 


periods  have  made  a  heroic  figure  of  Harold,  defending  to 
the  death  the  Hberties  of  Saxon  England  against  the  un- 
principled Norman  invader,  but  we  should  not  be  blind  to 
the  great  advantage  gained  by  England,  which  speedily 
became  the  best-governed  country  in  Europe  and  developed 
those  traditions  of  government  that  were  to  decide  her  place 
in  the  modern  world. 

2.  Norman  Influence  in  England.  It  is  well  to  remember 
that  Norman  influence  began  long  before  the  Conquest. 
In  1016,  when  Aethelred 
the  Unready  fled  from 
the  Danes,  he  took  with 
him  to  Normandy  his 
son  Edward,  who  even- 
tually became  King  of 
England  as  Edward  the 
Confessor  in  1042. 
Edward  brought  Nor- 
man followers  in  his 
train  and  established 
Norman  traditions  in 
England  during  the 
quarter  century  pre- 
ceding the  arrival  of 
William  on  English 
shores.  When  William 
set  up  the  rigid  rule 
that  was  maintained  by 
most  of  his  immediate 
successors,  Norman- 
French      became      the 

official  language  of  the  court  and  of  the  aristocracy. 
No  effort  was  made  to  suppress  English,  but  those  who 
clung  to  the  mother-tongue  were  socially  inferior  to  the 
group  that  used  French.     The  feudal  system,  which  had 


Lirxcoln  Cathedral 


34  THE  ANGLO-NORMAN  PERIOD 

become  highly  organized  in  Normandy,  was  now  devel- 
oped to  a  greater  degree  in  England.  William's  followers 
took  over  the  estates  that  had  been  held  by  the  Saxons  who 
fought  with  Harold.  Some  forty  or  more  great  barons 
who  were  followers  of  William  now  directed  the  implanting 
of  Norman  culture  in  all  parts  of  England.  In  the  Church 
the  same  shifting  of  power  was  brought  about,  but  more 
gradually.  W'henever  a  Saxon  bishop  or  abbot  died  or 
happened  to  be  deposed,  his  successor  was  usually  a  Norman. 
The  new  bishops  made  the  seats  of  their  bishoprics  in  the 
largest  town  of  each  diocese.  Soon  after  began  the  zealous 
building  of  the  great  cathedrals  and  abbeys  that  stand  to 
this  day  as  enduring  monuments  of  medieval  English  archi- 
tecture. Perhaps  the  most  vital  influence  for  the  literary 
development  of  England  was  the  coming  of  scholars  from 
the  schools  of  Paris  and  elsewhere  to  bring  about  a  closer 
union  between  the  learned  group  at  Oxford  and  on  the 
Continent.  Through  these  scholars  England  got  its  first 
acquaintance  with  the  learning  of  the  East  which  filtered 
through  Europe  by  way  of  the  universities  of  Italy  and 
France. 

3.  Fusion  of  the  People.  In  spite  of  the  social  distinc- 
tions between  the  Norman  conquerors  and  the  defeated 
Saxons,  marriages  soon  took  place  between  the  races,  and 
there  w^as  a  gradual  blending  into  a  new  race  that  combined 
the  best  characteristics  of  the  parent  stocks.  For  a  long 
time  after  the  Conquest  the  upper  classes  observed  Norman 
traditions  and  used  the  Norman-French  language,  while 
the  peasantry  and  the  common  people  of  the  towns  clung 
to  their  Saxon  customs  and  to  the  English  language,  but  the 
fusion  of  the  two  races  was  inevitable.  Intermarriages 
were  most  common  at  first  among  the  lower  classes,  but 
William  the  Conqueror's  own  son  Henry,  who  ruled  as  Henry 
I  (1100-1135),  married  Eadgyth,  a  descendant  of  the  old 
English  kings.     She  changed  her  name  to  Matilda,  because 


THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE  35 

the  Normans  could  not  pronounce  Eadgyth.  Through 
her  the  blood  of  Egbert  and  of  Alfred  was  transmitted  to 
later  monarchs,  so  that  the  present  ruler  of  the  British  Empire 
can  claim  direct  descent  from  the  first  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
kings.  The  fact  that  the  third  of  the  Norman  rulers  had 
chosen  a  Saxon  queen  probably  helped  to  bring  about  a 
better  feeling  between  the  two  civilizations.  Henry  I  like- 
wise showed  his  wisdom  in  granting  privileges  to  the  towns 
and  in  winning  the  support  of  the  common  people  against 
the  Norman  barons,  who  were  becoming  turbulent  and 
threatening  the  power  of  the  throne.  Not  only  did  the 
Saxons  benefit  by  the  King's  policy,  but  they  thus  achieved 
an  important  step  toward  the  idea  of  representative  gov- 
ernment, which  helped  to  make  of  England  a  strong  and 
united  people  long  before  similar  conditions  prevailed  in 
continental  countries. 

4.  The  English  Language.  The  Norman  Conquest, 
among  other  things,  brought  about  a  condition  whereby 
three  languages  were  used  in  England.  Latin,  which  was 
the  universal  language  of  scholarship  in  the  Middle  Ages, 
was  the  medium  employed  regularly  in  the  monasteries 
and  the  schools  for  ordinary  discourse  as  well  as  for  religious 
literature  and  other  writings.  The  impression  prevailed 
that  anything  w^orth  committing  to  parchment  should  be 
written  in  Latin,  so  that  it  might  be  read  and  understood 
everywhere.  French,  as  the  language  of  the  court,  was 
used  in  the  royal  councils  and  later  in  the  proceedings  of  the 
English  Parliament.  All  law  courts  were  conducted  in 
French,  which  for  several  centuries  was  recognized  as  the 
official  language  of  the  realm.  English,  the  language  that 
had  come  down  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  period,  continued 
with  characteristic  persistency  as  the  language  of  the  com- 
mon people.  It  was  used  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  towns 
as  well  as  by  the  peasantry  on  the  feudal  manors.  Its 
persistence  was  in  part  due  to  the  poHcy  of  William  the 


THE  ANGLO-NORMAN  PERIOD 


Conqueror,  who  did  not  attempt  to  suppress  the  native 
tongue.  He  knew  that  the  task  of  bringing  the  coun try- 
completely  under  his  sway  would  be  difficult  enough  without 
undertaking  to  force  his  own  language  upon  the  people.  As 
a  result  English  continued  to  be  spoken  by  all  classes,  be- 
cause even  the  nobles  and  the  churchmen  had  to  become 

familiar  with  the  language  in 
order  to  transact  any  affairs  in 
which  the  common  people  were 
concerned.  This  condition  pre- 
vailed for  about  three  centuries 
after  the  Conquest,  but  not  with- 
out bringing  about  important 
changes  in  the  English  language, 
which  was  naturally  influenced 
by  the  extensive  use  of  French 
and  Latin  near  at  hand.  These 
changes  were  so  significant  that 
they  claim  attention  before  we 
consider  the  literature  that  was 
produced  in  the  new  language  of  what  is  called  the  Middle 
English  period.  They  included  the  gradual  falling  away  of 
infections  and  the  loss  of  gender,  as  well  as  the  substitution 
of  the  principle  of  word-borrowing  for  the  older  method  of 
word-building. 

y6.  Changes  in  Inflection.  In  Old  EngHsh,  or  Anglo- 
Saxon,  as  it  is  still  sometimes  called,  nouns,  adjectives, 
verbs,  and  other  parts  of  speech  had  inflections  such  as  we 
find  in  modern  German  or  in  classical  Latin  and  Greek. 
If  we  wish  to  read  our  own  language  of  a  thousand  years 
ago,  we  must  learn  declensions  and  conjugations  as  we  do  in 
studying  the  foreign  languages  just  mentioned.  Thus  the 
word  for  stone  was  stan,  and  in  the  singular  number  it  was 
declined  thus:  nominative  stdn,  accusative  stdn,  dative 
stdne,  genitive  stdnes;    in  the  plural  these  cases  were  stdnas. 


A  Medieval  Scribe 


LOSS  OF   GENDER  37 

stdnas,  stdnuniy  stdna.  The  noun  eage^  meaning  eye,  was  simi- 
larly declined  eage,  eage,  eagan,  eagan;  plural  eagan,  eagan, 
eagum,  eagena.  Under  the  influence  of  the  Norman-French, 
which  was  comparatively  free  from  inflected  forms,  our  own 
case  endings  fell  away.  We  have  no  dative  or  accusative 
forms  to-day.  Stone  serves  for  all  singular  cases  except  the 
genitive  stone* s;  and  stones  for  all  plural  cases  except  the 
genitive  stones*.  Simplification  of  the  adjectives  and  pro- 
nouns was  even  more  striking.  Thus  the  adjective  cwic, 
meaning  alive,  had  eight  different  endings  in  the  thirty 
forms  that  represented  the  three  genders  of  five  cases,  singu- 
lar and  plural.  To-day  we  have  one  form  alone  to  cover  every 
use  of  the  adjective.  There  were  similar  varying  forms  for 
each  of  the  five  cases  in  three  genders  of  such  pronouns 
as  who,  this,  that,  etc.  Few  traces  remain  in  modern  English 
of  the  complicated  system  of  inflections  that  formerly  pre- 
vailed; most  of  the  survivals  are  in  the  pronouns,  as  in  they, 
their,  them;  he,  his,  him;  ivho,  whose,  whom. 

6.  Loss  of  Gender.  When  we  begin  to  study  Latin  we 
may  wonder  why  in  that  language  hortus  (a  garden)  should 
be  masculine,  mensa  (a  table)  feminine,  and  corpus  (a  body) 
neuter.  Such  arbitrary  genders  also  occur  in  German, 
where  the  word  for  table  is  masculine,  wall  is  feminine, 
but  woman  and  girl  are  neuter.  A  German  eats  a  masculine 
breakfast  with  a  masculine  spoon,  a  feminine  fork,  and  a, 
neuter  knife.  In  French  the  hnife  is  masculine,  while  the 
fork  and  spoon  are  feminine.  We  are  thankful,  of  course, 
that  all  such  words  are  neuter  in  English  and  that  w^e  do 
not  have  to  bother  about  gender.  In  Old  English,  how- 
ever, gender  had  to  be  carefully  observed,  just  as  in  the 
classics,  or  in  French  and  German.  Farm  (an  arm)  and 
fot  (a  foot)  were  masculine,  while  heorte  (a  heart)  and  hand 
(a  hand)  were  feminine,  but  beam  (a  child)  and  maegden  (a 
maiden)  were  neuter.  Again,  modor  (a  mother)  was  feminine, 
but  iclf  (a  woman)  was  neuter.     It  is  a  great  advantage  for 


THE  ANGLO-NORMAN  PERIOD 


modern  English  to  be  free  from  such  illogical  distinctions  of 
gender. 

7.  Word-building.  In  the  early  Teutonic  tongues  new 
words  were  frequently  created  by  compounding  other 
words  already  in  the  language.  Old  English  literature 
abounds  in  instances.  For  example,  burg-leode  (city-people) 
meant  citizens;  leorning-cild  (learning-child)  meant  a  pupil; 
and  leorning-cniht  (learning-knight)  meant  a  disciple.  Like- 
wise forp-faran  (fare-forth)  meant  to  die,  and  purh-drifan 
(drive  through)  meant  to  pierce.  Many  prefixes  and  suffixes 
helped  to  build  up  a  group  of  useful  words  that  have  sur- 
vived in  modern  forms.  Thus  -hood  made  possible  man- 
hood, childhood,  priesthood;  -dom  was  used  in  freedom, 
kingdom,  and  wisdom;  he-  gave  a  special  significance  to 
bespeak,  hepaint,  and  hepraise.  Most  Teutonic  tongues 
still  make  considerable  use  of  this  device  to  create  new  words 
and  occasionally  evolve  rather  clumsy  compoimds.  The 
tendency  in  Middle  English  was  to  introduce  new  and  sim- 
pler words  borrowed  from  foreign  sources  instead  of  building 
upon  words  already  in  the  language. 

8.  Growth  of  Vocabulary.    As  the  two  languages  English 

and  French  were 
spoken  side  by  side 
throughout  England 
during  the  Anglo-Nor- 
man period,  it  was 
inevitable  that  English 
should  borrow  exten- 
sively from  the  French 
for  the  enlargement  of 
its  own  vocabulary. 

Moreover,  short  and  direct  French  words  in  many  instances 
drove  out  the  more  cumbersome  words  that  had  come  down 
from  the  Anglo-Saxon  period.  Many  of  the  most  useful  words 
in  our  language  to-day  were  introduced  during  the  three  cen- 


Fumess  Abbey 


EXPULSION  OF  FRENCH  39 

turies  that  followed  the  Norman  Conquest.  Some  of  these 
words  had  to  do  with  military  affairs,  others  with  the  adminis- 
tration of  justice,  still  others  with  gentility  and  courtesy.  In 
these  three  classes  alone  we  find  such  words  as  arms,  bannery 
battley  peace,  siege;  court,  justice,  plead;  noble,  grace,  valor, 
gentle,  chivalry,  and  favor.  New  titles  of  rank  such  as  prince, 
duke,  marquis,  viscount,  and  baron  were  added  to  the  familiar 
Saxon  titles  of  king  and  earl;  military  rank  was  indicated 
by  such  words  as  captain  and  sergeant;  degrees  of  family 
relationship  were  indicated  by  such  new^  names  as  uncle, 
aunt,  nephew,  niece,  and  cousin.  Numerous  other  words  in 
the  domain  of  architecture,  clothing,  cookery,  and  sport 
reveal  how  extensive  was  the  influence  of  Norman-French 
in  building  up  the  vocabulary  of  the  English  tongue. 

9.  Advantages  of  the  Composite  Tongue.  The  English 
language  benefited  greatly  by  the  influence  of  Norman- 
French  upon  its  inflections  and  its  vocabulary.  Not  only 
did  it  become  a  more  comprehensive  language,  but  it  ob- 
tained a  flexibility  and  grace  that  would  have  been  impos- 
sible in  the  Anglo-Saxon  period.  From  the  first,  Anglo- 
Saxon  was  a  sonorous  language,  admirably  adapted  for  the 
fine  old  battle  epics  that  were  sung  by  the  ancient  scops, 
but  it  needed  a  certain  lightness  of  touch,  a  freeing  of  its 
vocabulary  from  cumbersome  compounds  and  rigid  rules 
of  inflection  before  it  could  vie  with  the  French  and  other 
modern  languages  as  a  suitable  vehicle  for  the  clearest  ex- 
pression of  thought.  As  we  study  the  successive  periods  of 
English  literature  it  is  interesting  to  note  the  increasing 
vocabulary  of  borrowed  words  and  the  gradual  develop- 
ment of  an  elastic  prose  style  in  place  of  the  earlier  rigidity 
that  prevailed  until  after  the  time  of  Shakespeare. 

10.  Expulsion  of  French.  For  some  time  after  the  Con- 
quest the  scholars  of  England  held  the  French  language  and 
French  traditions  of  civilization  in  high  esteem.  They 
flocked  to  the  University  of  Paris,  which  attracted  the  most 


40 


THE  ANGLO-NORMAN  PERIOD 


learned  men  of  the  day,  and  they  brought  back  to  England 
the  best  that  French  culture  had  to  offer.  After  a  while, 
however,  differences  arose,  and  eventually  France  was 
separated  politically  from  England.  The  English  kings 
still  laid  claim  to  the  throne  of  France  and  in  1338  began 
the  Hundred  Years'  War  with  that  country.  By  that  time 
English  ardor  for  French  civilization  had  died  away.      The 

fact  dawned  upon  Eng- 
land that  she  had  a 
language  of  her  own, 
fully  equal  to  all  her 
needs.  It  was  during 
the  beneficent  reign  of 
Edward  III  (1327-1377) 
that  English  finally 
came  into  its  own.  In 
1362  the  King  ordered 
Parliament  and  the  law 
courts  to  conduct  all 
their  proceedings  in 
English.  He  set  the  example  by  having  his  Chancellor  open 
Parliament  with  an  English  speech,  and  thereafter  he  made 
it  the  established  language  of  his  court.  In  the  face  of 
such  royal  favor  French  no  longer  had  any  hold  upon 
England  and  gradually  dropped  out  of  current  use. 

11.  Literature  of  the  Period.  Much  of  the  early  litera- 
ture of  the  Anglo-Norman  period  was  written  in  Latin. 
There  was  a  remarkable  revival  of  interest  in  scholarship 
after  the  coming  of  the  Normans.  This  movement  reached 
its  height  in  the  reign  of  Henry  II  and  is  represented  to-day 
by  a  great  mass  of  Latin  chronicles  written  mostly  in  the 
twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries.  They  are  naturally  of 
more  interest  to  the  historian  than  to  the  student  of  litera- 
ture, but  several  of  these  scholarly  chronicles  deserve  men- 
tion.     William   of   Malmesbury    (1095  ?-l  143.?^)   recorded  in 


Wells  Cathedral 


GEOFFREY  OF  MONMOUTH 


41 


his  Latin  chronicle  the  history  of  England  from  the  earliest 
time  to  his  own  day.  Finding  his  inspiration  in  the  work 
of  Bede  and  taking  the  venerable  Saxon's  history  as  a  point 
of  departure,  he  collected  from  various  sources  the  material 
for  his  own  record,  which  extends  to  the  year  1142.  Mil- 
ton regarded  William  as  the  best  chronicler  of  that  age  and 
posterity  has  not  reversed  the  decision.  He  was  able  to 
impart  a  picturesque  quahty  to  his  narrative  without  sacri- 
ficing accuracy  of  statement.  Second  only  to  William  in 
popularity  was  Henry  of  Huntingdon  (1084-1155)  who  wrote 
in  Latin  his  History  of  the  English.  His  work,  which  was 
compiled  between  1125  and  1154,  is  less  highly  esteemed 
by  scholars  to-day  because  he  was  much  inferior  to  William 
in  scholarship  and  in 
Hterary  ability.  He 
wrote  under  the  patron- 
age of  the  Bishop  of 
Lincoln,  to  whom  he 
dedicated  the  chronicle. 
X  12.  Geoffrey  of 
Monmouth  (1100- 
1154).  For  the  stu- 
dent of  literature 
Geoffrey  of  Monmouth 
is  by  far  the  most  im- 
portant of  all  the 
chroniclers.  His  His- 
tory of  the  Kings  of 
Britain,  written  in  Latin  about  1148,  may  readily  be  ac- 
cepted as  the  greatest  literary  product  of  the  century. 
Geoffrey  undertook  to  fill  in  long  gaps  of  British  history  that 
had  baffled  other  chroniclers,  and  he  professed  to  have  access 
to  an  ancient  Celtic  book  of  which  other  writers  were  igno- 
rant. W^ith  this  alleged  source  of  material  at  hand  he  threw 
light  upon  the  dark  periods  of  the  kings  who  ruled  in  Britain 


Tingatcl,  Cornwall  —  Reputed  Birthplace 
of  King  Arthur 


42  THE  ANGLO-NORMAN  PERIOD 

from  before  the  Christian  era  to  the  traditional  Celtic  King 
Cadwalader  in  689.  All  this  he  accompHshed  with  amaz- 
ing detail.  Even  in  his  own  day  Geoffrey  was  suspected  of 
relying  largely  upon  his  imagination  in  his  glowing  narra- 
tive of  the  romantic  past.  Later  historians  denounced  him 
for  his  deceptions  and  refused  to  take  him  seriously,  but 
literature  is  most  deeply  indebted  to  him.  In  his  pages 
were  gathered  the  stories  of  King  Lear  and  of  Cymbeline, 
which  were  later  to  furnish  Shakespeare  with  the  plots  of 
two  great  plays;  Ukewise  the  story  of  Sabrina,  who  figures 
in  Milton's  Comus;  and,  most  important  of  all,  the  rich 
collection  of  stories  associated  with  King  Arthur  and  his 
knights.  These  legends  attracted  the  favorable  attention 
of  Milton  as  a  subject  for  epic  treatment  and  later  proved 
such  an  abundant  source  of  material  for  Tennyson  and  other 
poets  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

13.  Gaimar  and  Wace.  Contemporary  writers  who 
used  the  French  language  w^ere  not  slow  to  recognize  the 
interesting  •  literary  character  of  Geoffrey's  chronicle.  An 
Anglo-Norman  author  named  Gaimar,  who  lived  in  the 
north  of  England,  appears  to  have  rendered  the  History  of 
the  Kings  of  Britain  into  French  verse  about  1150,  but  the 
work  has  been  lost.  A  courtly  Norman  named  Wace  next 
undertook  the  task  and  completed  it  in  1155,  dedicating 
the  work  to  Queen  Eleanor,  wife  of  Henry  11.  Wace  did 
more,  however,  than  merely  translate  Geoffrey.  He  added 
much  material  of  his  own,  introducing  legends  that  were 
probably  unknown  to  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth.  In  Wace 
we  find  the  first  mention  of  the  Order  of  the  Round  Table, 
instituted  by  King  Arthur  to  settle  all  matters  of  precedence 
among  his  knights.  Wace's  Brut,  as  he  called  it,  is  a  poem 
of  over  15,000  fines  and  represents  an  interesting  stage  of 
development  between  the  prose  chronicles  that  purport  to 
be  history  and  the  metrical  romances  that  are  aclvnowl- 
edged  to  be  fiction. 


THE  ARTHURIAN  LEGEND  43 

14.  Layamon's  Brut.  Early  in  the  thirteenth  century 
an  Enghsh  priest,  Layamon,  who  dwelt  at  Ernley  in  Wor- 
cestershire, conceived  the  noble  plan  of  telling  in  English 
verse  the  story  of  Britain  from  the  time  of  the  Flood.  He 
finally  concluded  to  begin  with  the  fall  of  Troy,  the  arrival 
of  Brutus  in  Britain,  and  to  end  with  King  Cadwalader. 
He  mentions  Wace's  Brut  as  a  source  of  his  own  poem, 
which,  however,  extends  beyond  32,000  lines,  or  more  than 
twice  the  length  of  the  French  poem.  Layamon  added 
considerable  material  that  is  not  to  be  found  in  Geoffrey 
nor  in  Wace.  In  fact,  the  character  of  his  work  is  such  that 
he  should  be  regarded  as  a  creative  poet,  not  as  a  mere 
translator.  His  Brut  is  undoubtedly  the  most  important 
poetical  work  of  the  period  up  to  the  time  of  Chaucer. 
Rhyme  occurs  occasionally  in  the  poem,  but  the  spirit  is 
mainly  that  of  the  earlier  age. 

15.  The  Arthurian  Legend.  It  would  be  interesting  to 
hnger  in  the  fairyland  of  the  Arthurian  story  and  to  learn 
of  the  many  romantic  stories  associated  with  that  admir- 
able king.  From  a  half-mythical  figure  of  the  fifth  century, 
who  may  have  led  his  Christian  knights  against  the  heathen 
Saxon,  he  has  become  one  of  the  outstanding  heroes  of 
world  literature.  Gradually  there  came  to  be  linked  with 
him  the  stories  of  other  heroes,  such  as  Gawain,  Perceval, 
Lancelot,  and  Tristram,  as  well  as  the  beautiful  story  of  the 
Holy  Grail.  In  the  earlier  stories  Arthur  was  not  always 
the  perfect  king,  the  matchless  knight  that  modern  poetry 
has  made  him;  his  character  varied  in  keeping  with  the  part 
he  played  in  the  romance.  As  Layamon  tells  the  story, 
Arthur  at  birth  w^as  favored  by  the  elves,  who  bestowed 
upon  him  riches,  long  life,  and  various  noble  qualities.  He 
became  king  at  fifteen,  later  waged  war  against  the  Picts, 
Scots,  and  Saxons.  He  reestablished  the  churches  destroyed 
by  the  heathen  and  wedded  Wenhaver  (Guenevere)  in  Corn- 
wall.    Other    lands   were    conquered    and    he   became    the 


44 


THE  ANGLO-NORMAN  PERIOD 


greatest  king  in  all  the  world.  At  Caerleon  he  maintained 
a  court  more  splendid  than  that  of  Rome.  When  Rome 
demanded  tribute  of  him,  he  declared  war,  and  leaving  his 
Queen  in  the  care  of  his  nephew  Modred,  proceeded  against 

the  Roman  emperor. 
Arthur  defeated  and 
slew  his  foe,  and  was 
about  to  enter  Rome 
when  in  a  dream  he 
learned  that  Modred 
had  usurped  the  throne. 
Thereupon  the  King 
returned  and  defeated 
Modred  in  a  terrific 
battle  in  which  Arthur 
himself  suffered  eleven 
wounds.  The  King 
then  announced  he 
would  go  to  Avalon, 
where  the  Queen  of 
the  Elves  would  cure 
his  w^ounds,  and  he 
would  later  return  to 
rule  in  joy  over  the 
Britons.  He  was  then 
borne  off  in  a  boat 
across  the  waters  to 
Avalon,  where,  in  the 
belief    of   the    Britons, 


King  Arthur 


he    still    lives   to   return   in   due   time   to  his  own  people. 
Layamon  in  his  Brut  thus  describes  the  passing  of  Arthur: 


And  ich  wulle  varen  to  Avalim 
To  vairest  aire  maidene, 
To  Argante  there  quene, 
Alven  swithe  sceone; 


And  I  will  fare  to  Avalon 
To  fairest  of  all  maidens 
To  Argante  the  Queen 
Elf  exceeding  beautiful 


GAWAYNE  AND  THE  KNIGHT  45 

And  heo  seal  mine  wunden  And  she  shall  my  wounds 

Makien  alle  isunde.  Make  all  sound 

Al  hal  me  makien  All  whole  me  make 

Mid  haleweiye  drenchen.  With  healing  draughts 

And  seothe  ich  cumen  wulle  And  afterwards  I  shall  come 

To  mine  kineriche  To  my  kingdom 

And  wunien  mid  Brutten  And  dwell  with  the  Britons 

Mid  muchelere  wunne.  With  great  joy. 

^  16.  Arthurian  Characters.  Among  the  knights  and  other 
characters  who  are  conspicuous  in  the  Arthurian  romances 
we  find  several  that  figure  prominently  in  later  literature. 
There  are  numerous  stories  concerning  Merlin,  the  aged 
bard  and  magician  who  gave  Arthur  supernatural  power  to 
defeat  his  enemies.  Other  legends  tell  of  Lancelot  of  the 
Lake,  chief  of  Arthur's  knights,  who  *  unwittingly  wins  the 
love  of  the  beauteous  Maid  of  Ascolat  (Astolat).  Perceval 
(Parsifal)  was  another  distinguished  hero  and  is  especially 
associated  with  the  Quest  of  the  Holy  Grail.  Sir  Galahad 
was  the  purest  and  noblest  of  all  the  knights  —  a  man  after 
Arthur's  own  heart.  Sir  Tristram  was  the  hero  of  an  un- 
fortunate love-affair  with  the  beautiful  Iseult  —  a  tragic 
love-story  that  has  inspired  many  a  modern  poet.  The 
most  popular  of  all  the  Arthurian  heroes  was  undoubtedly 
Sir  Gawayne,  who  was  the  nephew  of  King  Arthur  and 
much  like  him  in  character.  In  some  of  the  later  romances 
he  is  not  pictured  as  a  noble  character,  but  in  the  greatest 
of  all  the  English  Arthurian  stories.  Sir  Gawayne  and  the 
Green  Knighty  which  was  composed  about  1370,  he  plays  a 
leading  part. 

17.  Sir  Gawayne  and  the  Green  Knight.  On  New  Year's 
Day,  while  Arthur  and  his  knights  kept  their  feast  at  Camelot, 
a  gigantic  figure  clad  in  green  and  riding  a  green  steed  came 
into  their  midst  and  boldly  presented  a  challenge.  He  would 
permit  any  knight  to  strike  him  with  an  ax  on  condition 
that  a  year  hence  at  the  Green  Chapel  the  Green  Knight 
should  give  a  return  blow.      King  Arthur  was  about  to 


46  THE  ANGLO-NORMAN  PERIOD 

ficcept  when  Sir  Gawayne  stepped  forward  to  take  up  the 
challenge.  He  agreed  to  the  conditions,  took  up  his  bat- 
tle-ax and  with  one  blow  cut  off  the  Green  Knight's  head. 
The  stranger  thereupon  picked  up  his  own  head,  remounted 
his  steed,  and  after  reminding  Sir  Gawayne  of  his  appoint- 
ment at  the  Green  Chapel  a  year  hence,  rode  away. 

When  the  year  had  almost  rolled  by,  Gawayne  mounted 
his  steed  and  started  for  the  Green  Chapel.  He  endured 
terrible  storms  and  fought  with  savage  monsters  on  the 
way.  On  Christmas  Eve,  realizing  that  he  was  lost  in  a 
vast  forest,  he  prayed  to  Heaven  for  aid.  Thereupon  he 
beheld  a  great  castle  where  he  was  received  and  welcomed 
by  an  aged  Lord  whose  young  wife  was  the  most  beautiful 
woman  Gawayne  had  ever  seen.  From  them  he  learned 
that  the  Green  Chapel  was  but  two  miles  farther  on,  so  he 
agreed  to  stay  with  them  till  New  Year's  Day.  The  Lord 
of  the  Castle  arranged  to  go  hunting  on  the  next  three  days 
and  suggested  to  Sir  Gawayne  that  each  evening  they  should 
exchange  whatever  good  thing  they  received  that  day.  After 
the  Lord  had  left  on  the  first  day,  his  beautiful  young  wife 
tried  to  induce  Gawayne  to  make  love  to  her.  He  courte- 
ously rebuffed  her,  so  after  giving  him  a  kiss  she  went  away. 
That  evening  the  Lord  gave  Gawayne  the  spoils  of  a  deer 
hunt,  and  Gawayne  gave  his  host  a  kiss.  The  next  day, 
after  the  Lord  had  departed,  his  wife  again  sought  to  win 
Gawayne's  love,  and  when  he  refused  she  gave  him  two 
kisses  before  she  departed.  In  the  evening  when  the  Lord 
handed  over  the  trophies  of  a  boar  hunt,  Gawayne  gave 
him  two  kisses.  The  third  day  was  marked  by  the  greatest 
temptation.  The  wife  offered  Gawayne  a  ring  as  the  token 
of  her  love,  but  he  refused  to  take  it.  She  then  offered  him 
a  magic  green  girdle,  which  would  protect  him  from  all 
wounds.  Mindful  of  his  coming  ordeal  at  the  Green  .Chapel, 
Gawayne  accepted  the  girdle,  together  with  the  three  kisses 
that  she  gave  him  before  they  parted.     When  the  Lord 


KING   HORN  47 

returned  that  evening  from  a  fox  hunt  and  dehvered  his 
spoils,  Gawayne  gave  him  three  kisses,  but  said  nothing 
about  the  green  girdle,  which  he  intended  to  keep  for  his 
meeting  with  the  terrible  Green  Knight. 

On  New  Year's  Day  Sir  Gawayne  proceeded  to  the  Green 
Chapel,  a  horrible  cave  in  a  green  mound  where  he  heard 
the  Green  Knight  within  sharpening  his  ax.  Soon  the 
Kjiight  came  forth  and  Gawayne  prepared  for  the  blow. 
Twice  he  flinched  as  the  Knight  struck  at  him,  but  the  third 
time  he  was  slightly  wounded.  When  he  complained  that 
the  agreement  called  for  only  one  blow,  the  Green  Knight 
explained  everything.  He  was  the  Lord  of  the  castle.  The 
challenge,  the  temptation,  and  the  blows  were  meant  to 
test  Gawayne's  fidelity  to  the  King,  his  virtue,  and  his 
courage.  Stricken  with  remorse,  Gawayne  offered  the 
magic  girdle  to  the  Green  Knight,  but  was  directed  to  keep 
it,  with  the  reminder  that  his  slight  wound  was  sufficient 
atonement  for  his  failure  to  keep  the  compact.  Gawayne 
returned  to  the  court  and  related  his  adventures.  There- 
after the  Knights  of  the  Round  Table  agreed  to  wear  a 
green  girdle  in  his  honor. 

18.  Cycles  of  Romance.  Other  heroes  than  those  of  the 
Arthurian  group  were  the  subjects  of  similar  cycles  of 
romance.  One  series  of  stories  dealt  with  the  adventures 
of  Charlemagne  and  his  great  knight  Roland.  A  second 
group  had  Godfrey  of  Bouillon  for  their  hero  and  related 
his  valiant  exploits  during  the  Crusades.  A  third  cycle 
dealt  with  the  conquests  of  Alexander  the  Great,  while  a 
fourth  series  included  various  legends  connected  with  the 
siege  and  fall  of  Troy.  These  four  were  the  most  important 
groups  of  the  themes  chosen  from  continental  sources,  but 
many  minor  semi-historical  or  legendary  tales  were  related  by 
the  medieval  poets  in  England  as  well  as  in  France  and  in  Italy. 

IS.  King  Horn.  Among  the  Germanic  heroes  of  metrical 
romance  none  seems  to  have  been  more  popular  than  King 


48  THE  ANGLO-NORMAN  PERIOD 

Horn,  whose  story  may  be  traced  back  to  the  days  when 
the  Danes  invaded  England.  The  romance  is  preserved 
in  a  manuscript  of  the  period  1250-1260.  Horn  was  the 
son  of  King  Murray  of  Suddene.  When  he  was  a  boy  of 
fifteen  his  father  was  slain  by  the  Saracens.  They  spared 
the  boy  because  of  his  beauty,  but  became  so  terrified  at  his 
strength  that  they  sent  him  off  to  sea.  Horn  reached  the 
land  of  Westernesse,  where  he  was  well  received  by  the 
King  and  educated.  Later  the  King's  daughter  Rymenhild 
fell  in  love  with  Horn.  He  longed  for  an  opportunity  to 
show  his  prowess  and  slew  a  band  of  pagans  who  had  come 
to  ravage  the  land.  Soon  after  Horn  was  accused  of  plotting 
to  kill  the  King  and  was  banished.  He  went  to  Ireland, 
where,  under  the  name  of  Cutberd,  he  entered  the  service 
of  the  King  of  that  country.  He  fought  so  valiantly  against 
the  pagans  that  the  Irish  King  offered  Cutberd  his  throne 
and  the  hand  of  his  daughter  in  marriage.  Horn,  who 
still  thought  of  Rymenhild,  held  off  from  accepting  for 
seven  years.  In  the  meantime  Rymenhild  was  wooed  by  a 
King  whom  she  dared  not  refuse.  News  of  her  intended 
marriage  reached  Horn.  He  promptly  returned  and  slew 
the  intended  husband  and  his  followers.  Horn  then  re- 
vealed his  identity  to  Rymenhild 's  father  and  returned  to 
the  land  of  the  Saracens  to  wreak  vengeance  on  them  for 
killing  his  father.  After  causing  havoc  among  the  pagans 
and  building  churches  he  was  warned  in  a  dream  that  a 
false  friend  Fikenhild  sought  to  marry  Rymenhild.  Again 
he  returned  to  her  country  where,  disguised  as  a  pilgrim, 
he  made  his  way  into  Fikenhild 's  castle  and  killed  the 
traitor.  He  and  his  Queen  Rymenhild  thereafter  hved 
happily  in  Suddene. 

20.  The  Lay  of  Havelok.  Another  good  metrical  tale 
based  on  Teutonic  legend  is  that  of  Havelok  the  Dane, 
whose  adventures  may  have  been  those  of  a  historical  per- 
sonage of  the  tenth  century.     King  Aethelwold  of  England, 


THE   LAY  OF  HAVELOK  49 

when  at  the  point  of  death,  intrusted  his  little  daughter 
Goldborough  to  Earl  Godrich  of  Cornwall  to  bring  her  up 
and  eventually  marry  her  to  the  best  man  in  the  kingdom. 
At  the  same  time  the  dying  King  of  Denmark  left  his  young 
son  Havelok  and  two  infant  daughters  to  the  care  of  Earl 
Godard.  To  serve  his  ow^n  ambitions,  Godard  murdered 
the  girls  and  delivered  Havelok  to  Grim,  a  nsherman,  direct- 
ing him  to  drown  the  boy.  That  night,  however,  Grim  and 
his  w  ife  saw  a  bright  flame  coming  from  the  mouth  of  the 
sleeping  Havelok  and  found  the  royal  mark  upon  his  shoulder. 
By  these  signs  they  recognized  Havelok  as  the  heir  to  the 
Danish  throne.  They  fled  to  England,  landed  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Humber,  and  founded  the  tow^n  of  Grimsby.  Havelok 
w^as  brought  up  as  one  of  their  own  children  and  became 
very  strong.  When  famine  came  to  the  land,  Havelok,  w^ho 
had  developed  a  w^onderful  appetite,  knew  that  Grim  could 
no  longer  feed  him,  and  therefore  he  became  a  servant  to  the 
cook  of  Earl  Godrich.  In  a  contest  at  putting  the  stone, 
Havelok  revealed  himself  as  the  strongest  man  in  England. 
Godrich  heard  of  his  prowess  and  resolved  to  marry  the 
King's  daughter  Goldborough  to  this  low-born  Havelok 
so  that  she  might  thereby  forfeit  her  claim  to  the  throne  of 
England.  In  spite  of  her  protest  they  were  married,  and 
Havelok  took  his  royal  bride  to  Grimsby.  When  Havelok 
fell  asleep  and  Goldborough  beheld  the  bright  flame  from 
his  mouth  and  the  royal  mark  on  his  shoulder,  she  hardly 
needed  the  assurance  of  the  angel's  voice  that  told  her  she 
had  been  married  to  a  king's  son.  With  Grim  and  his 
family  the  royal  pair  returned  to  Denmark,  where  Havelok 
enlisted  the  aid  of  faithful  friends  of  his  dead  father.  They 
organized  an  army,  marched  against  Earl  Godard,  and 
hanged  the  traitor.  Havelok  was  then  crowned  King  of 
Denmark.  Soon  after  he  invaded  England,  met  and  de- 
feated Earl  Godrich,  and  had  him  burned  at  the  stake.  All 
England  then  came  under  Havelok's  rule.     He  made  Grim's 


50 


THE  ANGLO-NORMAN  PERIOD 


sons  barons  and  married  Grim's  daughters  to  powerful 
earls.  Thereafter  Havelok  and  Goldborough  ruled  happily- 
over  England  for  sixty  years.  Of  their  fifteen  sons  and 
daughters  every  son  became  a  king  and  every  daughter  a 
queen. 

21.  Other  Teutonic  Heroes.  Medieval  romances  tell 
of  other  heroes  whose  exploits  were  dear  to  those  who  loved 
to  hear  of  adventure  and  who  admired  the  display  of  cour- 


Famting  by  Pettie 


The  Vigil 


age  in  battle  or  in  single  combat.  Guy  of  Warwick  was 
the  central  figure  of  several  spirited  romances  that  have 
survived.  Bevis  of  Hampton  was  but  little  less  popular 
than  Guy.  His  story  was  told  and  retold  in  nearly  every 
language  of  Europe  from  Irish  in  the  west  to  Russian  in 
the  east.  Generally  these  tales  were  related  in  a  plain, 
blunt  style,  without  any  attempt  to  account  for  incidents 
that  modern  readers  would  consider  improbable.     Havelok 


BESTIARIES  51 

seizes  a  club  and  kills  twenty  men  before  any  one  can  aid 
him;  Guy  of  Warwick  kills  a  dragon  and  a  giant;  Be  vis  of 
Hampton  spends  seven  years  in  a  dungeon  with  only  a 
stick  to  protect  himself  from  the  monsters  that  infest  the 
place.  Narratives  such  as  these  were  clearly  intended  for 
simple-minded  folk  who  hked  plenty  of  unusual  adventure 
in  romance  and  who  wanted  incidents  to  happen  in  quick 
succession.  At  times  we  may  feel  that  these  old  romances 
were  drawn  out  to  an  unreasonable  length,  but  we  must 
not  forget  that  they  pleased  those  for  whom  they  were 
written. 

22.  Bestiaries.  From  a  very  early  period  the  Church 
used  stories  about  animals  to  teach  doctrine  or  to  point  a 
moral.  Such  stories  w^ere  as  popular  in  England  as  on  the 
Continent.  One  important  Bestiary  has  survived  from  the 
period  12C0-1250.  It  relates  the  nature  and  habits  of  each 
creature,  sometimes  with  very  little  regard  for  truth,  and 
then  proceeds  to  interpret  a  lesson.  Such  animals  as  the 
lion,  the  serpent,  the  eagle,  the  fox,  the  spider,  and  even  the 
mermaid  are  described  very  curiously,  though  the  moral  to 
be  drawn  from  the  illustration  is  sometimes  far  from  ap- 
parent.    Thus  the  elephant  and  the  whale  are  described: 

Elephants  live  in  India.  They  are  burly  creatures  that  go 
about  in  herds.  They  take  care  not  to  fall,  because  they  cannot 
get  up  again  without  help.  When  the  elephant  rests  he  leans 
against  a  tree.  The  hunter  therefore  saws  the  tree  half  through 
and  watches.  When  the  elephant  comes  and  leans  against  the 
tree,  both  beast  and  tree  fall  to  the  ground.  He  calls  for  help, 
but  his  companions  try  in  vain  to  raise  him.  A  young  elephant 
approaches  and  with  his  snout  helps  up  the  old  one.  In  this 
way  the  hunter  is  cheated.  .  .  .  Just  so  Adam  fell  through  a 
tree.  Moses  and  the  Prophets  vainly  sought  to  aid  him.  Christ 
came  down  as  a  man  and  raised  Adam  and  all  mankind  that 
had  fallen  into  dark  hell. 

The  whale  is  the  greatest  of  all  fish.  When  floating  he 
looks  like  an  island.  Whenever  he  gets  hungry,  he  gapes  wide 
and  emits  a  sweet  scent  by  which  other  fish  are  drawn  into  his 


52  THE  ANGLO-NORMAN   PERIOD 

mouth.  Then  he  shuts  his  jaws.  The  fish  are  sucked  in,  but 
only  the  Httle  ones  are  caught;  he  cannot  grip  the  big  ones.  In 
fair  weather  the  whale  lives  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  but  he 
comes  to  the  surface  in  a  storm.  Sailors  mistake  him  for  an 
island,  cast  anchor,  and  land  on  him.  They  light  a  fire  to  warm 
themselves;  they  eat  and  drink.  The  whale  feels  the  fire, 
c  ives  to  the  bottom,  and  drowns  them  all.  .  .  .  The  Devil  is 
like  the  whale.  He  tempts  men  to  sin  and  ruin.  It  is  the 
little  ones  he  ensnares;  he  cannot  catch  those  who  are  steadfast. 
Whoso  listens  to  the  Devil's  teaching  will  rue  it  sorely;  whoso 
putteth  trust  in  him  will  follow  him  down  to  dim  hell. 

23.  Religious  Poems.  During  this  period  a  number  of 
serious  moral  poems  were  written,  for  the  most  part  by 
inhabitants  of  the  monasteries  who  were  intent  upon  the 
salvation  of  humanity.  These  poems  reflected  a  very  dif- 
ferent spirit  from  the  wild  pagan  chants  of  battle  and  of 
boisterous  adventure  by  land  and  sea.  It  can  hardly  be 
said  that  these  religious  poems  are  very  interesting  to  us 
to-day.  Most  of  them  are  rather  long  and  prosy,  in  spite  of 
the  good  intentions  of  the  excellent  men  who  wrote  them. 
Their  influence  on  literature  was  such,  however,  that  we 
should  know  a  few  facts  about  them. 

24.  Poema  Morale.  The  Poema  Morale,  or  Moral  Ode, 
was  written  about  1150  and  is  one  of  the  most  important  of 
early  English  poems.  It  has  a  remarkably  smooth  and 
regular  rhythm  for  so  early  a  composition  and  it  is  rhymed 
throughout  in  couplets.     It  begins 

Ich  aem  elder  \)en  ich  wes       a  wintre  and  alore 

Ic  waelde  more  l)anne  ic  dude       mi  wit  ah  to  ben  more. 

which  means 

I  am  older  than  I  was     in  winters  and  in  lore 

I  wield  more  (power)  than  I  did     my  wisdom  ought  to  be  more. 

The  author  proceeds  to  lament  the  failures  of  his  life  and 
shows  how  easy  it  is  to  stray  from  the  right  path.  He 
urges  every  one  to  make  the  best  use  of  his  opportunities 


CURSOR   MUNDI  53 

and  thus  avoid  the  terrors  of  the  Last  Judgment.  The 
poem  is  really  a  versified  sermon  of  about  four  hundred  lines, 
and  is  significant  because  it  is  the  first  English  work  to  show 
the  regular  accent  and  rhyme  that  were  undoubtedly 
borrowed  from  the  Latin  poems  written  at  that  period  by  the 
monastic  authors. 

25.  The  Ormulum.  A  priest  named  Orm  had  the  doubt- 
ful distinction  of  producing,  about  the  year  1200,  one  of  the 
dullest  poems  in  the  whole  range  of  literature.  In  nearly 
20,000  monotonous  unrhymed  verses  the  Ormulum  presents 
an  uninspired  paraphrase  of  the  Gospels,  with  an  explana- 
tion for  the  benefit  of  the  unlearned.  Our  only  interest 
lies  in  the  peculiar  system  of  spelling  devised  by  Orm  in 
writing  his  poem.  This  consisted  of  doubling  a  consonant 
after  every  short  vowel  in  the  words  used  by  the  poet.  The 
Ormulum  thus  has  some  significance  for  students  of  our 
language,  but  lovers  of  good  literature  would  find  the  poem 
dull,  no  matter  how  it  is  spelled.  A  few  lines  will  suffice  as 
specimens  of  Orm's  effort: 

l)iss  hoc  iss  nemmedd  Orrmulum 

forrl^i  Jjatt  Orrm  itt  wrohlite 
annd  itt  iss  wrohht  off  quajjl^rigan 

off  goddspellbokess  fowwre. 

This  book  is  named  Ormulum 

Because  Orm  it  wrought 
And  it  is  wrought  from  the  quadriga 

From  the  gospel-books  four. 

26.  Cursor  Mundi.  In  a  vast  poem  of  over  24,000  lines 
an  unknown  Northumbrian  author  undertook  (about 
1300-1325)  to  tell  the  history  of  the  Seven  Ages  of  the 
world  from  Creation  to  the  Day  of  Doom,  with  special 
reference  to  the  Bible  story.  The  Cursor  Mundi  (or  Over- 
runner  of  the  World)  is  really  a  religious  encyclopedia  in 
verse.  The  poet  deplored  the  fact  that  other  persons 
wasted   so   much  of  their  time   in  reading  romances  and 


54  THE  ANGLO-NORMAN   PERIOD 

similar  vain  stories  of  love  and  adventure;  he  proposed  to 
give  his  readers  a  version  of  sacred  story  more  interesting 
than  the  foolish  tales  that  had  caught  their  fancy.  Many 
attractive  stories  and  legends  were  interwoven  with  the 
Biblical  narrative  to  accomplish  his  worthy  intention, 
but  it  cannot  be  said  that  he  lured  the  plain  folk  away  from 
the  popular  stories  of  Arthur,  Alexander,  Charlemagne, 
and  other  worldly  heroes. 

27.  Handlyng  Synne.  In  1303  a  Lincolnshire  author 
named  Robert  Manning  of  Brunne  (Bourne)  wrote  a  poem 
of  about  12,000  lines  and  called  it  Handlyng  Synne,  or 
Manual  of  Sins,  It  is  really  a  free  translation  of  two  works 
written  in  Norman-French  by  earlier  poets,  discoursing  on 
the  nature  of  the  Seven  Deadly  Sins,  which  were  Pride, 
Envy,  Anger,  Idleness,  Covetousness,  Gluttony,  and  Lust. 
Unlike  the  earlier  rehgious  poems  that  have  been  mentioned, 
Handlyng  Synne  is  a  work  of  considerable  charm.  It  is 
really  a  collection  of  stories  to  illustrate  the  various  sins 
that  were  considered  deadly.  Manning  sjhowed  excellent 
judgment  in  avoiding  dull  material  in  his  poem.  He  wrote 
simply  and  directly,  so  that  he  might  be  better  understood 
by  ignorant  men.  Quite  apart  from  its  literary  quality, 
Handlyng  Synne  is  an  interesting  presentation  of  the  life 
of  that  period.  Manning  condemns  tournaments  and 
public  performances  of  Biblical  plays  as  leading  to  sin;  he 
censures  avaricious  landlords  and  unjust  stewards;  he 
even  denounces  the  vain,  idle  men  in  religious  orders  who 
were  a  little  later  to  receive  the  scornful  lashing  of  Chaucer's 
vigorous  satire.  Manning  had  no  patience  with  crafty, 
sinful  men,  nor  with  vain  and  silly  women  who  spent  most 
of  their  time  in  adorning  themselves,  but  he  showed  a  warm 
tenderness  for  children  and  urged  that  they  should  be 
treated  with  consideration. 

28.  Ancren  Riwle.  In  the  great  mass  of  religious  prose 
produced  during  the  Anglo-Norman  period  there  is  only 


DISPUTATIONS  55 

one  work  that  claims  special  attention.  The  Ancren  Riwle 
(or  Rule  for  Anchoresses)  was  composed  about  1225  by  an 
unknown  author.  It  was  written  for  the  guidance  of  three 
ladies  of  Dorsetshire  who  intended  to  live  in  seclusion  from 
the  world.  There  are  eight  parts,  dealing  with  every  phase 
of  their  prospective  outward  and  inward  life.  Hardly  any 
useful  admonition  concerning  their  conduct,  regulation  of 
domestic  affairs,  or  avoidance  of  temptation  was  overlooked 
by  the  zealous  counselor.  They  were  told  what  to  eat, 
what  to  wear,  and  how  long  to  sleep.  They  were  to  keep 
silent  at  meals,  not  to  speak  with  any  man  often  or  long, 
not  to  put  any  faith  in  dreams,  and  not  to  possess  any 
beast  except  one  cat.  They  were,  however,  permitted  to 
wash  themselves  as  often  as  they  pleased;  moreover,  they 
were  admonished  to  read  their  Ancren  Riwle  every  day  and 
to  offer  a  prayer  for  him  who  wrote  it.  The  author  must 
have  had  some  trouble  in  getting  together  so  much  good 
advice  into  one  book;  he  called  Heaven  to  witness  that  he 
would  rather  undertake  the  pilgrimage  to  Rome  than  to 
write  the  book  over. 

29.  Disputations.  From  the  earliest  times  the  dialogue 
or  disputation  between  speakers  was  a  popular  literary 
medium  to  impart  information  or  to  draw  a  moral.  In  such 
classical  writers  as  Plato  and  Lucian  the  dialogue  w^as  fre- 
quently used,  and  the  early  Christian  fathers  found  it  most 
effective  in  their  teaching.  Almost  every  language  of  west- 
ern Europe  affords  examples  of  such  composition.  In 
English  the  surviving  literature  includes  a  Debate  between 
the  Body  and  the  Soul,  in  which  each  accuses  the  other  of 
bringing  about  the  moral  downfall  of  the  deceased  knight 
over  whose  bier  they  are  wrangling.  Another  dialogue  poem 
is  The  Owl  and  the  Nightingale^  wherein  the  poet  hears  the 
two  birds  disparaging  each  other  and  immodestly  praising 
their  own  talents.  They  engage  in  a  long  debate,  pitting 
argument  against  argument,  until  other  birds  are  attracted 


56  THE  ANGLO-NORMAN  PERIOD 

to  the  scene.  There  is  about  to  be  an  open  quarrel  when 
the  wren  bids  them  keep  the  king's  peace  and  submit  their 
case  to  a  judge.  The  birds  then  fly  away  to  the  home  of 
the  arbitrator,  but  the  poet  does  not  claim  to  know  the 
decision.  This  remarkable  composition  is  one  of  the  best 
imaginative  poems  in  the  language  up  to  the  time  of  Chaucer. 
It  reveals  a  fine  appreciation  of  nature  and  a  clearly  de- 
fined national  tone  that  is  lacking  in  earlier  work.  The 
unknown  poet  was  evidently  a  man  of  good  humor,  broad 
outlook  on  life,  and  sound  judgment.  He  paved  the  way 
for  The  Thrush  and  the  Nightingale^  The  Cuckoo  and  the 
Nightingale,  and  similar  disputations. 

30.  Lyrical  Poetry.  A  considerable  number  of  short 
emotional  poems  have  come  down  to  us  from  the  Anglo- 
Norman  period.  Most  of  these  are  of  a  religious  character, 
as  comparatively  few  of  the  English  singers  chose  such 
subjects  as  mirth,  nature,  and  love,  wliich  were  popular 
among  the  poets  of  France  and  Provence  at  that  period. 
Of  the  nonreligious  lyrics  one  of  the  oldest  (about  1200-1225) 
is  the  Cuckoo  Song^  which  begins 

Sumer  is  i-cumen  in  Summer  is  coming  in 

Lhude  sing  cuccu  Sing  loud  cuckoo 

Groweth  sed  and  bloweth  Groweth  seed  and  bloometh 

med  meadow 

And  springeth  the  wde  nu  And  springeth  the  wood  now 

Sing  cuccu,  cuccu.  Sing  cuckoo,  cuckoo. 

Here  the  singer  has  admirably  caught  the  spirit  of  the 
awakening  of  new  life  in  spring.  The  same  delight  in  spring  , 
is  revealed  by  the  love-lorn  author  of  Alysoun  (about  1300), 
a  lyric  describing  the  beauty  of  his  sweetheart  and  begging 
her  to  show  gracious  favor  to  his  suit.  During  the  same 
period  we  find  the  beautiful  song  beginning 

Lenten  ys  come  with  love  to  toune. 
With  blosmen  ant  with  briddes  roune. 

Spring  is  come  with  love  to  town 
With  blossom  and  with  birds'  song. 


RELIGIOUS  LYRICS  57 

There  is  also  lyric  appreciation  of  the  winter  season : 

Wynter  wakeneth  al  my  care 

Nou  this  leves  waxeth  bare 

Ofte  I  sike  (sigh)  ant  mourne  sare  (sorely) 

When  hit  eometh,  in  my  thoht 

Of  this  worldes  joie,  hou  hit  goth  al  to  noht. 

A  lovesong  in  which  the  poet  celebrates  the   graces  of  his 
lady  fair  has  this  fine  refrain : 

Blou,  northerne  wynd 

Send  thou  me  my  suetyng  (sweeting) 

Blou,  northerne  wynd!  blou,  blou,  blou! 

31.  Religious  Lyrics.  There  are  nearly  two  hundred 
lyrics  of  a  religious  character  that  have  been  preserved  from 
the  three  centuries  following  the  Norman  Conquest.  Among 
them  are  On  Ureisim  of  oure  Louerde  {A  Prayer  of  our  Lord) 
and  The  Wohunge  of  lire  Lauerd  {The  Wooing  of  our  Lord) 
w^hich  are  supposed  to  be  the  work  of  a  woman  —  possibly 
one  of  the  three  sisters  of  Dorsetshire  for  whom  the  Ancren 
Riicle  was  written.  Undoubtedly  the  most  beautiful  of 
the  religious  poems  is  the  Love  Rune  by  Thomas  de  Hales, 
written  about  1275  at  the  request  of  a  maid  of  Christ  who 
asked  him  to  write  a  love-song,  so  that  she  might  learn  to 
choose  a  w^orthy  lover.  The  poet  sings  of  the  vanity  of 
all  earthly  things  and  shows  how  fleeting  and  inconstant 
worldly  love  is.     He  asks 

Hwer  is  Paris  and  Heleyne 

That  weren  so  bryht  and  feyre  on  bleo  (complexion) 
Amadas,  Tristram,  and  Dideyne 

Yseude  (Iseult)  and  alle  theo: 
Ector  (Hector)  with  his  scharpe  meyne 

And  Cesar  riche  of  worldes  feo?  (wealth) 
Heo  (they)  beoth  iglyden  ut  of  the  reyne 

So  the  schef  is  of  e  cleo.  (like  corn  from  the  hillside) 

He  tells  her  of  a  greater  Lover  to  whom  all  earthly  rulers 
are  vassals  —  a  Lover  whose  abode  is  fairer  than  Solomon's 


58 


THE  ANGLO-NORMAN  PERIOD 


temple  of  precious  stone.  That  is  the  Lover  for  her  to  choose 
if  she  would  know  eternal  happiness.  The  poem  reveals 
a  spirit  of  devout  and  passionate  yearning. 

32.  The  Pearl.  The  gem  among  lyrical-narrative  poems 
of  the  fourteenth  century  is  unquestionably  The  Pearl,  a 
work  of  elaborate  artistic  grace  and  possessing  imaginative 
quality   of   the   highest   character.     The   unknown   author 

who  wrote  this  lovely  poem 
about  1370  to  express  his 
emotion  over  the  death  of 
his  little  daughter  Margaret 
(the  name  means  'pearl  in 
Latin)  chose  a  complicated 
twelve-line  stanza  and  ex- 
tended his  narrative  to  101 
stanzas.  The  story  is  an 
allegory  that  is  not  hard  to 
follow.  The  poet,  having 
lost  his  beautiful  pearl  with- 
out compeer  and  having 
sought  for  it  in  vain,  lies 
down  heart-broken  in  the 
open  field  and,  lulled  by  the 
odor  of  the  flowers,  falls 
asleep.  In  a  vision  he  finds 
himself  in  a  land  glorious 
beyond  expression;  a  realm 
of  shimmering  brightness  where  birds  of  brilliant  plumage 
sing  rapturous  melodies.  Traversing  a  fair  forest,  he 
reaches  a  shining  stream  with  precious  gems  lying  like 
pebbles  in  its  depths.  He  wanders  along  the  bank,  seeking 
a  passage  to  the  paradise  on  the  other  side.  Then,  across  the 
stream,  he  beholds  a  crystal  cliff  and  beneath  it  a  gracious 
maid  in  dazzling  white  robes.  She  raises  her  face,  and  as 
I'l^  gazes  she  seems  to  be  glorified  in  a  halo  of  jewels.     On 


From  an  Old  Manuscript 
The  Pearl 


THE  PEARL  59 

her  head  rests  a  coronet  incrusted  with  pearls.  She  ad- 
vances to  the  shore  and  addresses  the  poet.  He  asks  if  she 
is  the  pearl  that  he  has  lost  and  mourned.  She  chides  him 
for  his  grief  and  tells  him  that  she  has  become  as  a  pearl  of 
great  price.  He  seeks  to  join  her,  but  is  told  this  is  impos- 
sible until  he  leaves  behind  his  body  of  cold  clay.  While 
he  beholds  her  his  sorrow  wanes  and  he  asks  her  to  tell  him 
of  her  present  joys.  She  describes  to  him  the  glories  of 
the  City  of  God.  When  the  poet  expresses  a  desire  to  see 
the  place,  she  tells  him  he  may  see  the  outer  form,  but  only 
the  pure  in  heart  may  enter.  He  then  proceeds  until  he 
beholds  on  the  opposite  hill  a  fair  burg  of  burnished  gold  with 
gates  of  pearl.  Through  the  walls  he  beholds  the  city 
flooded  with  light  and  in  the  midst  is  the  throne  of  God.  At 
the  portal  is  the  procession  of  those  who,  decked  with  pearls, 
are  permitted  to  know  Heaven's  bliss.  Among  the  thou- 
sands who  are  making  their  way  to  the  Throne  of  Grace  is 
his  own  dear  Margaret,  bearing  her  pearl  on  her  breast. 
The  poet  is  about  to  plunge  into  the  stream  to  reach  her 
when  he  awakens  and  laments  to  find  himself  in  the  world 
■ —  alone.  Yet,  if  his  dear  Pearl  is  blessed  as  he  has  dreamed, 
then  all  is  well  and  he  commends  his  precious  jewel  to  God's 
care. 

This  poem  is  indeed  one  of  the  fairest  expressions  of 
medieval  literature.  The  work  of  a  sincere  and  devout 
singer,  it  apparently  commemorates  the  actual  loss  of  a 
little  child,  bringing  such  deep  grief  to  the  poet's  heart. 
Several  attempts  have  been  made  to  modernize  the  poem, 
so  that  its  lovely  qualities  might  become  known  to  those 
who  would  not  be  able  to  read  it  in  the  original  form. 


CHAPTER   III 
THE  AGE  OF  CHAUCER 

1.  A  Literary  Awakening.  During  the  half-century 
1350-1400,  in  which  the  English  language  superseded  the 
French  language  in  England,  there  was  a  great  outburst 
of  national  pride  over  the  successful  course  of  the  war 
against  France*  The  union  of  the  Saxon  and  the  Norman 
elements  in  the  English  character  was  virtually  complete. 
The  decisive  victories  at  Cressy  (1346)  and  at  Poictiers 
(1356)  mark  the  waning  importance  of  the  knight  in  full 
armor.  With  the  passing  of  feudalism  came  the  dawn  of 
a  new  era,  characterized  by  growing  discontent  over  the 
insolence  of  the  ruling  classes  and  the  corruption  of  the 
clergy.  As  a  result  of  the  scarcity  of  labor  after  the  Black 
Death  (1348)  there  was  a  social  upheaval  that  culminated 
in  the  Peasants'  Revolt  of  1381.  The  period  in  which 
Chaucer  and  his  contemporaries  wrote  was  one  of  wide- 
spread, startling  developments,  and  the  literature  of  the 
age  did  not  fail  to  reflect  those  significant  changes. 

2.  Development  of  the  English  Language.  After  Edward 
III  in  1362  gave  official  recognition  to  English  as  the  lan- 
guage of  his  court,  of  Parliament,  and  of  the  courts  of  law, 
there  was  a  rapid  enriching  of  the  vocabulary,  mainly  from 
French  sources.  The  language  attained  greater  flexibility 
and  power  in  the  hands  of  the  capable  writers  who  now  used 
it  for  literary  expression.  In  the  East  Midland  dialect  that 
prevailed  in  the  vicinity  of  London  the  language  achieved 
a  form  quite  similar  to  modern  English  in  many  respects. 
Some    of    Chaucer's    contemporaries    used    other    dialects. 

60 


MANDEVILLE'S  TRAVELS  61 

but  it  was  largely  due  to  the  use  bf  East  Midland  by  Chaucer 
himseK  that  this  dialect  became  the  accepted  national 
tongue. 

3.  Mandeville's  Travels.  Among  the  most  popular  books 
produced  during  the  age  of  Chaucer  was  the  remarkable 
volume  that  purported  to  be  the  Travels  of  Sir  John  Mande- 
ville,  Knight.  Three  hundred  manuscripts  have  survived, 
and  before  the  year  1500  it  had  been  printed  in  German, 
Dutch,  Italian,  Latin,  and  English.  Since  that  time  the 
Travels  have  been  translated  into  nearly  every  language  of 
Europe.  According  to  his  own  story,  Sir  John  was  born 
at  St.  Albans  and  started  on  his  travels  in  1322.  He  visited 
eastern  Europe,  Africa,  the  Holy  Land,  Tartary,  India, 
and  the  isles  of  the  Orient,  spending  thirty-four  years  abroad. 
In  the  course  of  his  wanderings  he  saw  many  strange  sights. 
He  visited  a  land  where  hens  had  wool  instead  of  feathers; 
another  where  ants  grew  as  large  as  hounds;  another  where 
huge  snails  had  shells  so  large  that  many  persons  might 
lodge  in  them.  Among  the  remarkable  people  that  he  met 
was  a  tribe  of  cannibals  that  had  dogs'  heads;  another 
tribe  that  had  but  one  eye  in  the  middle  of  the  forehead; 
others  had  no  heads,  but  had  eyes  in  their  shoulders;  others 
had  eight  toes  on  each  foot;  still  others  had  ears  hanging 
down  to  their  knees.  Among  the  most  ingenious  was  an 
Ethiopian  tribe  that  had  only  one  leg  with  a  broad,  flat 
foot  on  which  to  hop  about.  When  they  would  lie  down  to 
sleep  in  the  sun  they  could  raise  their  leg  and  use  the  foot 
as  a  sunshade.  Mandeville  also  spoke  of  the  pygmies,  who 
were  but  three  spans  high,  married  when  they  were  six 
months  old,  and  died  of  old  age  at  seven  or  eight  years. 
He  wandered  far  afield,  but  when  he  approached  the  region  of 
Paradise,  he  wrote  modestly:  "Of  Paradise  I  cannot  speak 
properly,  for  I  was  not  there.'* 

We  must  not  regard  the  Travels  as  a  mere  tissue  of  non- 
sense and  outrageous  statements.     There  is  much  quaint 


62  THE  AGE  OF  CHAUCER 

information  in  the  midst  of  many  absurdities.  There  is  a 
detailed  account  of  incubation  as  practiced  in  Egypt  and 
a  description  of  the  cotton  plant.  Mandeville  also  insisted, 
more  than  a  century  before  Columbus,  that  the  earth  was 
round,  gave  a  very  plausible  explanation  to  prove  his  con- 
tention, and  estimated  the  circumference  of  the  globe  as 
over  twenty  thousand  miles. 

Scholars  for  many  generations  regarded  Mandeville  as  a 
prince  among  liars,  but  he  turns  out  to  be  even  a  greater 
liar  than  any  one  suspected,  because  we  now  know  that  he 
never  existed.  Some  clever  compiler  made  up  the  original 
narrative  of  the  Travels  in  French  about  1356  from  all  sorts 
of  available  sources.  He  drew  from  the  experiences  of 
actual  travelers  in  the  Orient  and  from  his  imagination  when- 
ever the  narrative  threatened  to  become  dull.  He  told 
everything  in  a  convincing,  straightforward  manner  and 
frequently  regretted  that  he  had  not  proof  at  hand  to  verify 
some  of  his  more  incredible  statements.  The  unknown 
author,  whoever  he  was,  deserves  credit  for  carrying  out  his 
hoax  so  successfully,  but  it  is  too  bad  that  we  have  to  drop 
Sir  John  Mandeville,  Knight,  from  our  list  of  good  fellows 
who  helped  to  make  life  more  entertaining  for  his  own  age 
and  for  posterity. 

4.  John  Wycliffe  (1324-1384).  The  first  great  name  in 
the  history  of  the  English  Reformation  is  that  of  Wycliffe, 
who  is  sometimes  caUed  '*the  morning-star  of  the  Reforma- 
tion." His  fame  is  associated  with  the  first  complete  trans- 
lation of  the  Bible  into  English,  although  much  of  the  work 
was  done  by  others  under  his  direction.  Wycliife  was 
born  near  Richmond,  in  Yorkshire,  about  1324,  and  educated 
at  Balliol  College,  Oxford.  He  is  said  to  have  been  Master 
of  that  famous  college  in  1361.  He  held  various  benefices 
and  became  a  doctor  of  divinity.  During  his  later  years 
he  was  vicar  at  Lutterworth  in  Leicestershire,  where  he 
died  in  1384.     His  life  must  have  been  a  very  busy  one,  for 


PIERS  PLOWMAN 


63 


in  addition  to  his  pastoral  duties  he  found  time  to  write 
many  theological  works  in  English  and  in  Latm.  His 
Sermons  alone  fill  two  large  volumes.  In  his  controversial 
writings  he  attacked  the  corrupt  clergy  of  his  day  and  in- 
sisted that  they  should  be  exposed  to  the  contempt  of  all 
who  had  the  mterest  of  the  Church  at  heart.  The  Bible 
translation,  however,  is  his  most 
important  literary  work  and 
had  a  widespread  influence  upon 
the  English  prose  of  the  age. 
The  Early  Version  of  his  Bible 
was  probably  completed  about 
1382,  two  years  before  his 
death.  The  New  Testament  is 
the  best  part  of  that  translation 
and  is  generally  accepted  as 
Wycliffe's  own  work.  The 
Later  Version,  which  was  pre- 
pared several  years  after  his 
death,  was  supervised  by  one  of 
his  faithful  followers  and  is  a  far  better  translation  of  Holy 
Writ.  Its  popularity  is  .proved  by  the  fact  that  over  a 
hundred  and  fifty  manuscript  copies  have  survived  to  our  day. 
5.  Piers  Plowman.  One  of  the  very  important  medieval 
poems  belonging  to  the  class  called  "vision-literature"  is 
The  Vision  of  William  Concerning  Piers  the  Plowman. 
It  is  written  in  unrhymed,  long  alliterative  lines  that  were 
well  out  of  fashion  in  the  fourteenth  century,  and  in  this 
respect  the  poem  harks  back  to  an  earlier  literary  period, 
but  in  spirit  it  was  quite  abreast  of  the  times  and  deserves 
to  rank  as  the  greatest  piece  of  medieval  English  literature 
with  the  sole  exception  of  The  Canterbury  Tales.  The  poem 
opens  with  a  prologue  in  which  the  poet  is  represented  as 
falling  asleep  on  a  May  morning  at  a  brookside  near  the 
Malvern  hills: 


John  Wvcliffe 


64  THE  AGE  OF  CHAUCER 

In  a  5omer  seson     whan  soit  was  the  sonne 

I  ^hope  me  in  shroudes     as  I  a  ^hepe  were 

In  labile  as  an  /^eremite     un/ioly  of  workes 

PFent  wyde  in  this  world     irondres  to  here 

Ac  on  a  May  mornynge     on  Maluerne  hulles 

Me  byfel  a/erly     of /airy  me  thoughte 

I  was  wery  forirandred     and  wenie  me  to  reste 

Under  a  6rode  6ank     bi  a  6ornes  side 

And  as  I  lay  and  lened     and  /oked  in  the  wateres 

I  slombred  in  a  slepyng     it  sweyved  50  merye. 

The  vision  that  rolls  like  a  panorama  before  the  poet 
reveals  a  fair  town  on  a  hill,  a  dungeon  in  the  valley  below, 
and  between  them  is  a  "fair  field  full  of  folk"  —  a  great 
multitude  representing  the  varied  life  on  this  earth.  All 
classes  and  conditions  of  mankind  are  represented,  spend- 
thrifts and  plowmen,  merchants  and  beggars,  hermits  and 
jesters  —  in  short,  rich  and  poor,  workers  and  idlers,  just 
as  we  find  people  in  the  world  to-day.  A  lovely  lady,  who 
personifies  Holy  Church,  appears  and  tells  the  poet  that  the 
high  tower  is  the  Tower  of  Truth,  the  abode  of  the  Creator, 
while  the  dungeon  is  t^e  Castle  of  Care,  where  dwells  the 
Father  of  Falseness.  Holy  Church  points  out  to  him  the 
figures  of  Falsehood  and  Flattery  in  the  throng  of  folk, 
and  likewise  Lady  Meed  (or  Bribery)  who  is  responsible  for 
much  evil.  Lady  Meed  is  afterwards  brought  to  trial  before 
the  King  on  account  of  her  misdeeds.  At  the  King's  re- 
quest. Reason  comes  to  the  trial,  accompanied  by  Wit  and 
Wisdom.  An  adherent  of  Lady  Meed  named  Wrong  suc- 
ceeds in  winning  Wit  and  Wisdom  to  her  cause  by  giving 
them  presents,  but  Reason  remains  true  and  acts  with, 
strict  justice.  The  King  is  convinced  of  Lady  Meed's 
guilt  and  asks  Reason  to  remain  with  him  for  all  time. 

In  a  second  vision  the  poet  again  beholds  the  "fair  field 
full  of  folk"  with  Reason  preaching  to  the  multitude.  Many 
are  so  conscience-stricken  by  his  sermon  that  they  repent 
and    confess    their   sins.     Then   follows    the    confession   of 


PIERS   PLOWMAN  65 

those  who  represent  the  Seven  Deadly  Sins.  All  the  peni- 
tents set  out  to  seek  the  Tower  of  Truth,  but  no  one  knows 
the  way.  Thereupon  Piers  the  Plowman  makes  himself 
known  and  offers  to  act  as  their  guide,  but  not  until  he  has 
plowed  his  half-acre.  He  commends  honest  toil  to  the 
knights  and  ladies  as  the  best  preparation  for  their  final 
salvation.  Several  shirk  their  tasks,  but  Hunger  brings 
them  to  subjection  by  his  sharp  treatment.  The  third 
part  of  the  poem  is  sometimes  called  The  Search  for  Dowel, 
Dobety  Dohest  (or  Do  Well,  Do  Better,  and  Do  Best).  In 
this  part  we  find  a  curious  prophecy  forecasting  the  breaking- 
up  of  the  religious  orders  and  a  fervent  appeal  for  the  con- 
version of  the  Mohammedans.  The  vision  concludes  with 
a  despairing  conviction  on  the  part  of  the  w^eeping  dreamer 
that  much  remains  to  be  done  to  establish  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven  on  earth. 

No  summary  can  possibly  indicate. the  wealth  of  material 
and  imaginative  quality  to  be  found  in  this  remarkable 
allegory.  Some  critics  regard  Piers  Plowman  as  second  only 
to  Dante's  Divine  Comedy  among  poetical  allegories  of  the 
world's  literature.  The  poem  has  come  down  to  us  in  three 
forms,  which  for  convenience  are  called  the  A-text,  the 
B-text,  and  the  C-text.  The  A-text,  which  belongs  to  about 
the  year  1362,  has  2567  verses  and  includes  only  the  earlier 
parts  of  the  Vision;  the  B-text,  dating  from  about  1376-1377, 
has  3206  lines  for  the  parts  covered  by  the  A-text,  and  adds 
the  third  part  of  the  Vision,  bringing  the  total  length  to 
7242  lines;  the  C-text,  dating  1393-1398,  is  a  revision  of  the 
B-text,  with  many  changes,  including  omissions  as  well  as 
additions,  giving  a  total  of  7357  lines.  For  many  years  it 
was  believed  that  a  certain  William  Langland  (born  1322?) 
was  the  author  of  Piers  Plowman,  or  at  least  of  the  early 
version  of  the  poem,  but  that  view  has  been  much  questioned 
of  late,  and  scholars  have  not  arrived  at  a  decision.  Very 
little  is  known  concerning  Langland,  and  that  little  does 


66  THE  AGE  OF  CHAUCER 

not  offer  much  evidence  on  which  to  credit  him  with  the 
glory  of  having  given  this  noble  allegory  to  our  literature. 

6.  John  Gower  (1325? -1408).  Probably  the  most  learned 
poet  of  the  age  was  John  Gower,  who  was  born  in  Kent 
about  1325.  We  know  nothing  of  his  youth  or  education, 
but  he  appears  to  have  been  a  man  of  considerable  means. 
He  was  apparently  well  acquainted  with  Chaucer  and 
during  the  last  years  of  his  life  suffered  from  failing  eye-sight. 
In  spite  of  his  great  learning,  Gower  was  unable  to  deter- 
mine whether  French,  Latin,  or  English  would  be  the  best 
language  in  which  to  write  his  poems.  Unlike  Chaucer, 
who  wisely  decided  in  favor  of  English,  Gower  took  what 
seemed  the  safest  course  by  writing  one  long  poem  in  each 
of  the  three  languages.  His  Speculum  Meditantis  (or  Miroir 
de  Vomme)  is  a  lengthy  poem  of  28,603  verses  written  in 
French  and  dealing  with  human  virtues  and  vices.  His 
second  poem.  Vox  Clamantis,  is  in  Latin,  and  is  a  dream- 
allegory  of  10,265  lines  lamenting  the  corruptions  and  evil 
conditions  of  his  age.  His  third  and  most  important  work, 
Confessio  Amantis,  was  written  about  1390  in  English  and 
is  the  longest  of  his  poems,  extending  to  a  total  of  34,000 
lines.  There  is  only  one  manuscript  surviving  of  Gower's 
French  poem,  and  ten  manuscripts  of  the  Latin  poem,  but 
the  forty-three  manuscripts  of  Confessio  Amantis  prove 
that  Gower's  last  choice  of  a  language  was  the  best. 

Confessio  Amantis  (or  Confession  of  a  Lover)  is  a  collection 
of  one  hundred  and  twelve  short  stories,  apparently  written 
at  the  request  of  Richard  II.  Like  so  many  of  his  prede- 
cessors, Gower  selected  stories  to  illustrate  the  Seven  Deadly 
Sins,  v/hich  were  a  favorite  subject  throughout  the  Middle 
Ages.  Unlike  Handlyng  Synne,  however,  in  which  the 
chief  purpose  was  to  point  a  moral,  Confessio  Amantis  was 
frankly  intended  to  entertain  as  well  as  to  instruct.  Most 
of  the  tales  had  to  do  with  love,  and  were  drawn  from  such 
sources   as   Ovid,    the   Bible,   Josephus,   and   the   metrical 


GEOFFREY  CHAUCER  67 

romances.  Although  there  is  a  general  disposition  now- 
adays to  regard  Gower's  work  as  tedious  and  negligible, 
such  criticism  is  not  quite  fair.  Confessio  Amantis  was 
very  popular  in  its  day  and  was  frequently  translated. 
Caxton  printed  it  in  1483.  Ben  Jonson  praised  Gower  for 
his  excellent  English;  Shakespeare  introduced  him  as  the 
Prologue  for  the  play  of  Pericles,  the  plot  of  which  was  taken 
from  the  Confessio.  Gower's  reputation  suffered  in  later 
days  because  of  the  superior  gaiius  of  his  great  contem- 
porary Chaucer,  but  to  judge  any  medieval  writer  by  such 
a  standard  is  unreasonable,  because  Chaucer  was  so  evi- 
dently in  advance  of  his  age.  Gower's  verse  is  smooth  and 
regular,  he  exhibits  good  judgment  in  the  proportion  of  his 
plan,  and  he  tells  his  stories  in  simple,  picturesque  language. 
Undoubtedly  he  would  rank  higher  in  our  esteem  to-day  if 
it  were  not  for  the  overshadowing  figure  of  the  greatest 
poet  of  that  age  —  the  first  really  distinguished  writer  in 
the  history  of  our  hterature. 

GEOFFREY   CHAUCER  (1340-1400) 

7.  Chaucer's  Life.  Although  the  date  of  Chaucer's 
birth  has  not  been  definitely  learned,  it  is  generally  accepted 
that  he  Was  born  in  London  in  1340.  His  father  was  John 
Chaucer,  a  vintner,  or  wine-merchant.  During  his  youth 
Chaucer  served  as  a  page  in  the  household  of  Elizabeth, 
Countess  of  Ulster,  who  was  Edward  Ill's  daughter-in-law. 
Records  show  that  she  presented  Chaucer  with  clothing 
when  he  was  seventeen  and  allowed  him  twenty  shillings 
for  his  Christmas  expenses.  The  Countess  was  a  half- 
sister  of  John  of  Gaunt,  and  it  is  likely  that  Chaucer  soon 
made  the  acquaintance  of  that  powerful  prince.  In  1359 
Chaucer  joined  the  English  forces  in  France  and  was  taken 
prisoner  near  Rheims.  Edward  III  contributed  £16 
(equivalent  to  £240  to-day)  toward  the  youth's  ransom. 
He  returned  to  England  with  the  King  and  after  the  death 


68 


THE  AGE  OF  CHAUCER 


of  the  Countess  of  Ulster  became  a  member  of  the  King's 
household.  In  1366  he  appears  to  have  married  a  woman 
named  Philippa,  but  the  evidence  is  uncertain.  At  the  age  of 
twenty-eight  he  ranked  high  in  the  list  of  royal  esquires. 
He  was  sent  repeatedly  to  the  Continent  on  important 
diplomatic  missions  and  enjoyed  a  liberal  pension  from  the 
King.     On  two  occasions  he  went  to  Italy,  visiting  Florence 

as  well  as  Genoa,  and 
possibly  on  one  of  those 
trips  he  made  the 
acquaintance  of  the 
famous  Italian  poet 
Petrarch,  who  was  then 
living  near  Padua.  By 
1374  Chaucer  w^as  a 
man  of  such  impor- 
tance that  he  enjoyed 
not  only  the  King's 
pension,  but  another  of 
£10  from  John  of 
Gaunt  and  a  royal 
grant  of  a  pitcher  of 
wine  daily.  *  In  that 
year  he  was  appointed 
controller  of  customs 
for  London  and  thus 
assumed  important 
business  responsibilities.  The  death  of  Edward  III  in 
1377  did  not  interrupt  Chaucer's  prosperity.  He  enjoyed 
the  confidence  of  Richard  II  and  rose  rapidly  in  the 
new  King's  esteem.  In  1385  he  became  Justice  of  the 
Peace  for  Kent  and  a  year  later  sat  in  Parliament.  About 
this  time,  however,  a  change  occurred  in  his  fortunes  as  a 
result  of  a  political  upheaval  that  deprived  John  of  Gaunt 
of  his  influence.     After  Gaunt's  return  to  England  in  1389 


Geoffrey  Chaucer 


GEOFFREY  CHAUCER  69 

Chaucer's  circumstances  improved;  he  was  made  Clerk 
of  the  King's  Works  and  enjoyed  important  commissions 
while  he  held  that  post.  During  his  later  years  he  was 
again  in  financial  straits,  possibly  because  his  pension  was 
not  paid  regularly.  Creditors  began  to  bring  suits  against 
him  and  he  had  to  appeal  to  the  King  for  aid.  Richard 
II  granted  him  £10  and  a  hogshead  of  wine  annually  for 
life.  When  Richard  died  in  1399,  Chaucer  promptly  applied 
to  the  new  King,  Henry  IV,  for  consideration.  Henry 
granted  him  forty  marks  (now  £400)  a  year,  in  addition  to 
the  grants  made  by  Richard  II.  Chaucer  was  thus  assured 
of  ending  his  days  in  comfort.  Within  a  few  months  after 
receiving  the  latest  evidences  of  royal  favor,  he  leased  a 
property  in  the  garden  of  St.  Mary's  Chapel,  Westminster, 
for  as  many  of  fifty-three  years  as  he  should  live.  He 
died,  however,  on  October  25,  1400,  just  ten  months  after 
he  took  possession  of  his  new  home.  He  was  buried  in 
Westminster  Abbey,  being  the  first  of  the  many  distin- 
guished literary  men  who  have  been  laid  to  rest  in  the  now 
famous  Poets'  Corner  of  the  Abbey. 

8.  Chaucer's  Literary  Work.  It  is  customary  to  divide 
the  literary  work  of  Chaucer  into  three  periods:  (1)  the 
French  period,  in  which  he  wrote  The  Romaunt  of  the  Rose, 
The  Dethe  of  Blanche  the  Duchesse,  and  shorter  pieces; 
(2)  the  Italian  period,  to  which  belong  The  Parlement  of 
Foules,  The  Hous  of  Famey  Troilus  and  Criseyde,  The  Legends 
of  Good  Women,  and  a  prose  translation  of  Boethius;  (3)  the 
English  period,  in  which  he  produced  most  of  the  stories 
that  are  included  in  his  masterpiece.  The  Canterbury  Tales, 
as  well  as  a  prose  work,  his  Treatise  on  the  Astrolabe.  In  all 
three  periods  he  wrote  numerous  minor  poems  which  must 
be  passed  over  without  mention. 

9.  The  French  Period.  Chaucer's  first  ambitious  literary 
undertaking  was  The  Romaunt  of  the  Rose,  which  is  a  trans- 
lation (7698  lines)  of  about  one-third  of  the  famous  French 


70 


THE  AGE  OF  CHAUCER 


poem,   Roman  de  la  Rose,  a  dream-vision  allegory  of  the 
thirteenth  century.     It  is  likely  that  Chaucer  grew  tired 


Fainting  by  F.  M.  Brown 

Chaucer  Reading  to  Edward  III 

of  his  task  before  completing  it  and  gave  up  the  translation 
to  proceed  with  original  work;  yet  the  influence  of  Roman 
de  la  Rose  is  evident  in  all  his  later  work.     There  is  some 


GEOFFREY  CHAUCER  71 

doubt  as  to  whether  the  text  of  The  Romaunt  of  the  Rose  as 
we  have  it  to-day  is  really  Chaucer's  translation.  His  first 
extensive  original  poem,  The  Dethe  of  Blanche  the  Duchesse, 
or  The  Boke  of  the  Diichesse,  as  it  is  also  called,  is  a  dream- 
poem  (1334  lines)  in  which  Chaucer  laments  the  death  of 
Blanche,  wife  of  his  loyal  patron,  John  of  Gaunt.  In  a 
vision  the  poet  finds  himself  in  a  hunting  party  that  is 
traversing  a  wood.  They  come  across  a  man  in  black  who 
is  greatly  dejected  and  who,  after  some  inquiry,  tells  them 
at  length  of  the  loss  of  his  dear  lady.  Her  beauty  and 
worth  are  recounted,  together  with  details  of  their  court- 
ship. This  poem  is  somewhat  tedious  in  parts  and  lacks 
proportion;  at  the  same  time  it  reveals  the  graceful  manner 
and  much  of  the  charm  that  pervade  his  later  work. 

10.  The  Italian  Period.  There  was  a  notable  improve- 
ment in  Chaucer's  work  after  he  had  come  under  the  in- 
fluence of  Italian  literature  on  his  repeated  visits  to  the 
Continent  in  the  King's  service.  In  The  Parlement  of 
Foules  (699  lines)  we  have  another  vision-story,  which  was 
derived  in  part  from  Teseide,  by  the  Italian  writer  Boccaccio. 
In  his  dream  the  poet  saw  the  goddess  Nature  surrounded 
by  birds  of  every  kind  that  were  assembled  on  St.  Valen- 
tine's Day  to  choose  their  mates.  Three  male  eagles  pleaded 
as  suitors  for  a  lovely  female  eagle,  but  it  was  impossible 
to  choose  among  them.  The  other  birds  protested  at  the 
delay.  Nature  bade  them  to  decide  upon  a  mate  for  the 
fair  eagle  by  election,  but  they  could  not  agree.  Nature 
then  declared  that  the  eagle  should  choose  her  own  mate, 
allowing  her  a  year  in  which  to  decide.  The  other  birds 
were  then  mated  and  sang  in  praise  of  Nature,  awakening  the 
poet  with  their  song.  The  poem  has  usually  been  accepted 
as  a  delicate  compliment  to  Richard  II  and  his  Queen,  Anne 
of  Bohemia,  who  had  been  wooed  by  three  suitors. 

The  Hous  of  Fame  is  an  incomplete  poem  of  2158  lines 
based  on  an  idea  taken  from  the  Latin  poet  Ovid.     Once 


72  THE  AGE  OF  CHAUCER 

again  the  popular  device  of  the  dream-vision  was  em- 
ployed. The  poet  found  himself  in  a  temple  of  glass  dedi- 
cated to  Venus.  A  huge  eagle  descended  from  the  heavens 
and  bore  him  away  to  the  House  of  Fame,  which  stood  on 
a  hill  of  ice.  The  names  engraved  on  the  sunny  side  of  the 
palace  were  melting  away,  but  those  on  the  northern  side 
were  intact.  In  the  hall  sat  Lady  Fame,  who  decided  upon 
the  award  of  all  who  claimed  renown.  As  the  poem  ends 
abruptly  it  is  difficult  to  give  a  full  explanation  of  the  alle- 
gory. 

Troilus  and  Criseyde  represents  Chaucer's  contribution 
to  the  Troy  cycle.  The  story  is  not  found  in  Homer,  but 
is  of  medieval  origin,  occurring  first  in  a  French  Roman  de 
Troie.  Boccaccio  made  it  into  an  Italian  poem  under  the 
title  Filostrato,  Chaucer  took  the  plot  directly  from  Boc- 
caccio, producing  a  poem  of  8239  lines  —  his  most  extensive 
poem  and  next  in  importance  to  The  Canterbury  Tales. 
The  story  became  popular  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  Troilus 
is  not  an  admirable  hero  and  that  Criseyde  proves  to  be  an 
unfaithful  heroine.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Shakespeare 
used  the  same  story  for  one  of  his  less  familiar  tragedies, 
Troilus  and  Cressida. 

The  Legende  of  Good  Women,  like  The  Hous  of  Fame,  is 
an  unfinished  poem.  Besides  the  Prologue  there  are  ten 
legends  of  such  women  as  Cleopatra,  Thisbe,  Dido,  Medea, 
and  Lucretia,  who  were  ready  to  sacrifice  everything  for  love. 
This  fragment  of  2723  lines  was  drawn  from  Boccaccio  as 
well  as  from  Ovid,  Virgil,  and  other  classical  sources. 

Chaucer's  important  prose  work  of  this  period  is  his  trans- 
lation of  Boethius'  De  Consolatione  Philosophiae,  the  same 
work  that  King  Alfred  had  rendered  into  Old  English. 
Another  prose  work  of  later  date,  his  Treatise  on  the  Astro- 
labe, is  of  interest  mainly  because  of  its  charming  prologue 
addressed  to  "Litel  Lowis,  my  sone,"  who  was  of  the  "tendre 
age  of  ten  yeer"  at  the  time  the  father  was  explaining  the 


GEOFFREY  CHAUCER 


73 


hi 

1 

.i^ 

M 

^^km^%^ 

^^^aMijU 

^■1 

K_.     ""^SHHHi 

Canterbury  Cathedral 


use  of  the  astrolabe  for  his  benefit.     Nothing  definite  is 
known  concerning  Lewis  Chaucer. 

11.  The  Canterbury 
Tales.  In  the  third 
or  English  period 
Chaucer's  genius  reach- 
ed its  height  in  the 
series  of  stories  known 
as  The  Canterbury 
Tales.  From  Boccaccio 
he  may  have  borrowed 
the  idea  of  securing  a 
suitable  framework  for 
a  large  group  of  stories 
that  would  otherwise 
have  had  Httle  con- 
nection with  each 
other.  Boccaccio  in  his  Decameron  represented  a  party  of 
noble  lords  and  ladies  in  Florence  gomg  into  seclusion  during 
a  plague  and  entertaining  themselves  by  teUing  a  series  of 
one  hundred  tales  in  ten  days.  Chaucer's  plan  was  quite 
different  from  that  of  the  Decameron^  but  equally  ingenious. 
In  his  day  it  was  customary  to  make  pilgrimages  to  the 
shrine  of  Thomas  a  Becket  in  Canterbury.  The  great 
archbishop  had  been  murdered  in  1170  at  the  altar  of  the 
cathedral  and  had  been  proclaimed  a  martyr  and  a  saint. 
Miracles  were  said  to  be  wrought  at  his  tomb  and  persons 
of  all  classes  made  their  way  thither.  In  spring  many 
pilgrims  followed  the  road  from  London  to  Canterbury. 
To  protect  themselves  from  highwaymen,  as  well  as  to  re- 
lieve the  monotony  of  what  was  usually  a  three  or  four  days' 
journey,  they  often  traveled  in  large  parties  and  told  stories 
on  the  way  to  pass  the  time  more  pleasantly. 

12.  The  Prologue.     In  his  Prologue  Chaucer  represents 
a  group  of  thirty  such  pilgrims  assembling  one  April  day 


74  THE  AGE  OF  CHAUCER 

at  the  Tabard  Inn  In  Southwark,  across  the  Thames  from 
London.  It  was  a  merry  party,  representing  almost  every 
social  order  of  the  day.  There  was  the  Knight  —  a  splendid 
figure  and  a  gallant  fighter;  his  son,  the  Squire,  arrayed  in 
gayly-colored  garments,  a  medieval  dandy;  the  Yeoman, 
with  cropped  head  and  green  coat,  bearing  his  sharp  arrows 
at  his  belt;  the  modest  Prioress,  neatly  attired  and  very 
decorous  in  her  behavior;    the  bald  Monk,  ponderous  of 


Painting  by  Stothard 

The  Canterbury  Pilgrims 

body  and  fond  of  good  living;  the  dignified  Merchant  with 
his  forked  beard  and  rich  robes;  the  poor,  ascetic  Clerk 
(or  Scholar)  of  Oxford,  riding  in  threadbare  garb  on  a  sorry 
steed  lean  as  a  rake;  the  prosperous  and  portly  Wife  of 
Bath,  who  had  fared  widely  and  knew  much  of  life;  the 
sincerely  devout  Parson,  who  labored  zealously  for  his 
flock  and  set  them  a  good  example  by  following  his  own 
precepts;  the  burly,  thickset  Miller  who  could  knock  doors 
off  their  hinges  by  running  headlong  into  them;  the  flaxen- 
haired,  thin-voiced  Pardoner  with  his  wallet  of  saintly  relics 
—  but  we  cannot  name  them  all.     No  summary  can  do 


GEOFFREY  CHAUCER  75 

justice  to  the  vivid  portrayal  of  personality,  the  close  atten- 
tion to  dress  or  general  appearance,  the  shrewd  humor  or 
satiric  shaft  at  traits  not  unfamiliar  in  human  conduct  of 
our  own  day.  Chaucer's  account  of  the  Canterbury  pil- 
grims is  accepted  by  critics  of  every  stamp  as  one  of  the 
finest  pieces  of  descriptive  verse  in  all  literature.  The 
Prologue  must  be  read  in  full  if  we  wish  to  enjoy  the  genius 
of  Chaucer  at  its  very  best. 


The  Canterbury  Pilgrims 

13.  The  Plan  of  the  Pilgrimage.  This  varied  company 
brought  joy  to  the  heart  of  Harry  Bailey,  mine  Host  of  the 
Tabard  Inn,  who  was  evidently  pleased  to  have  this  large 
and  interesting  party  as  his  guests.  It  was  he  who  pro- 
posed that  they  should  start  out  together  for  Canterbury 
in  the  morning  and  that  each  member  of  the  party  should 
tell  four  tales  —  two  on  the  way  to  Canterbury  and  two  on 
the  return  journey.  He  would  join  them  and  act  as  judge 
and  reporter  of  their  tales.  The  pilgrim  who  told  the  best 
story  was  to  have  a  supper  at  the  Tabard  Inn  at  the  expense 
of  the  others. 


76 


THE  AGE  OF  CHAUCER 


^^ifc-lf' 

i 

^^^^9 

As  the  party  was  to  comprise  thirty-one  persons  includ- 
ing the  poet,  but  excluding  Bailey,  Chaucer's  scheme  called 
for  124  stories,  but  the  work  was  far  from  complete  at  the 
time  of  his  death.  It  is  evident  that  Chaucer  changed 
his  plan  while  working  on  the  tales.  He  permitted  a  Canon 
and  his  Yeoman  to  join  the  party  while  on  their  way  to 
Canterbury,  and  let  the  Yeoman  tell  one  of  the  tales.     There 

is  reason  to  believe 
that  Chaucer  found 
his  original  plan  too 
ambitious  and  decided 
to  have  each  pilgrim 
tell  only  one  story 
each  way.  Still  later 
he  apparently  gave  up 
the  idea  of  the  return 
journey  and  also  of 
an  epilogue  describing 
the  supper  at  the 
Tabard  Inn.  At  any  rate,  the  collection  as  we  have  it 
includes  only  twenty-four  stories  and  three  of  these  were 
left  unfinished.  Twenty -two  of  the  stories  are  in  verse  and 
two  in  prose. 

14.  The  Tales.  It  is  impossible  to  dwell  upon  more  than 
a  few  of  the  stories  that  make  up  this  fine  collection.  The 
Knight's  Tale^  which  came  first,  is  the  longest  and  is  uni- 
versally regarded  as  the  best.  It  tells  of  two  noble  Theban 
cousins,  Palamon  and  Arcite,  who  are  held  prisoners  in 
Athens,  where  both  fall  in  love  with  the  princess  Emilia 
and  become  the  bitterest  of  enemies  because  of  that  rivalry. 
Their  subsequent  adventures,  leading  up  to  the  great  tourna- 
ment decreed  by  Theseus  to  decide  which  of  the  knights 
is  to  win  the  fair  Emilia,  make  one  of  the  finest  romantic 
stories  in  existence.  The  same  story  (which  was  taken 
from  Boccaccio's  Teseide)  furnished  the  plot  for  the  Eliza- 


The  Tabard  Inn 


GEOFFREY  CHAUCER 


77 


bethan  play.  The  Two  Noble  Kinsmen,  in  which  Shakespeare 
may  have  had  a  hand;  it  was  also  very  effectively  modern- 
ized by  Dryden  under  the  title  Palamon  and  Arcite. 

The  dainty  Prioress  tells  the  pathetic  tale  of  young  Hugh 
of  Lincoln,  the  seven-year  old  chorister  who  rejoiced  in 
singing  the  Latin 
hymn  0  Alma  Re- 
demptoris  Mater  in 
honor  of  the  Virgin, 
and  who  was  cruelly 
murdered  and  cast 
into  a  pit.  When 
his  distracted  mother 
began  to  search  for 
her  httle  boy,  those 
who  had  done  him  to 
death  denied  all 
knowledge  of  him, 
but  from  the  pit  the 
dead  child  sang  the 
hymn  that  it  loved 
so  well  and  thus 
revealed  their  crime. 
The  Nun's  Priest 
tells  the  pleasant 
story  of  Chanticleer 
and  the  Fox.  In  the 
barn-yard  of  a  poor 
widow  proud  Chanti- 
cleer is  monarch  of  all  he  surveys.  He  is  distressed  by  dreams 
of  a  strange  creature  that  wishes  him  harm.  Eventually 
the  Fox  comes  along  and  by  crafty  flattery  manages  to  seize 
Chanticleer  and  makes  off  with  him,  but  in  the  end  the  cock 
proves  even  more  cunning  and  succeeds  in  escaping  from 
his  enemy. 


1 

fp 

*  ^   ^ 

'If  -. 

. — — ^ — 

Painting  by  Burne-Jones 

The  Prioress'  Tale 


78  THE  AGE  OF  CHAUCER 

The  Pardoner  tells  one  of  the  most  powerful  of  all  the 
tales.  It  is  an  Oriental  legend  of  three  young  revelers  who 
are  misspending  their  lives  and  who  in  plague-time  start 
on  a  drunken  quest  for  Death,  who  has  carried  off  one  of 
their  number.  They  meet  an  old  man,  who  directs  them 
to  a  tree,  under  which  they  will  find  the  object  of  their 
search.  There  they  find  a  pile  of  gold.  One  of  the  trio 
goes  to  an  inn  to  fetch  wine^  so  that  the  party  may  cele- 
brate their  discovery,  but  hoping  to  get  all  the  gold  for  him- 
self, he  poisons  the  wine  on  his  way  back.  The  other  two, 
meanwhile,  have  plotted  his  destruction.  When  he  returns 
they  murder  him,  drink  the  wine,  and  die  themselves.  The 
Wife  of  Bath,  having  been  five  times  married,  gives  an 
amiable  account  of  her  various  husbands  in  a  diverting 
prologue  before  she  proceeds  to  tell  the  popular  story  of 
the  Knight  and  the  Loathsome  Lady  —  a  tale  that  appears 
in  almost  every  literature  from  India  to  Iceland,  and  was 
one  of  the  best  related  in  Gower's  Confessio  Amantis.  In 
King  Arthur's  days  a  knight  who  had  been  condemned 
for  his  misdeeds  was  told  by  the  Queen  that  if,  after  a  search 
for  a  year  and  a  day,  he  could  tell  her  what  women  most 
desire,  his  life  would  be  spared.  He  sought  in  vain  until 
an  aged  crone  appeared  and  promised  to  tell  him  the  secret, 
provided  he  would  marry  her.  The  knight  agreed  and  on 
the  appointed  day  was  able  to  give  the  right  answer:  women 
desire  sovereignty  over  their  husbands.  The  hideous  crone 
then  claimed  him  for  her  husband  and  tried  to  convince  him 
that  it  was  better  to  have  an  old  and  ugly  wife.  "Would 
you  rather  have  me  old  and  hideous,  but  faithful,  or  would 
you  have  me  young  and  fair,  though  possibly  faithless.^" 
she  said.  "Choose  for  yourself,'*  replied  the  knight.  "I 
trust  in  your  good  judgment."  This  answer  assured  her 
that  she  had  won  mastery  over  her  husband.  As  he 
kissed  her  she  was  transformed  into  a  young  and  lovely 
maiden. 


GEOFFREY  CHAUCER  79 

As  a  rebuke  to  the  Wife  of  Bath,  whose  ideal  of  wedded 
happiness  is  for  the  wife  to  dominate  the  home,  the  Clerk  of 
Oxford  tells  the  appealing  story  of  Griselda  —  a  tale  that 
occurs  in  Boccaccio  and  elsewhere  in  literature.  Walter, 
the  Marquis  of  the  Saluces,  has  wedded  Griselda,  the  daughter 
of  the  poorest  of  his  subjects,  a  girl  of  noble  character  who 
swore  never  in  deed  or  thought  to  disobey  her  husband. 
After  a  httle  daughter  is  born  Walter  determines  to  test 
his  wife's  patience  by  removing  the  child  and  telling  Griselda 
that  the  baby  was  slain.  Six  years  later  her  little  two-year 
old  boy  is  similarly  taken  away,  but  she  does  not  com- 
plain. When  their  daughter  is  twelve  years  old,  Walter 
sends  forged  documents  of  divorce  to  Griselda  and  announces 
that  he  will  wed  another  wife.  Griselda  patiently  prepares 
the  home  for  her  successor.  Walter  is  now  assured  of  her 
virtues.  The  pretended  bride  is  introduced  and  turns  out 
to  be  her  beloved  daughter.  The  boy  is  restored  and  all 
live  happily  thereafter. 

What  promised  to  be  one  of  the  finest  of  the  tales  is  that 
of  the  Squire,  but  unfortunately  it  is  a  fragment.  The 
romance  reflects  the  spirit  of  the  Arabian  Nights  and  simi- 
lar literature.  Cambyuskan,  King  of  Tartary,  has  two 
sons  and  a  lovely  daughter  Canacee.  On  the  King's  birth- 
day a  knight  brings  strange  gifts  from  the  King  of  Araby: 
a  steed  of  brass  that  will  carry  its  rider  through  the  air  to 
any  destination,  a  mirror  that  will  reveal  friend  or  foe  and 
give  warning  of  evil,  a  gold  ring  that  will  enable  the  wearer 
to  speak  with  birds  and  animals,  and  a  sword  that  will  give 
a  serious  wound,  curable  only  if  the  wound  is  struck  by  the 
flat  side  of  the  sword.  Next  morning  Canacee  ventures 
forth,  wearing  the  magic  ring.  She  hears  a  female  falcon 
tell  a  pathetic  tale  of  unhappy  love  and  is  able  to  under- 
stand. She  takes  the  bird  home  and  cares  for  it.  The 
fragment  ends  before  we  learn  anything  more  of  the  other 
remarkable  gifts  from  Araby. 


80  THE  AGE  OF  CHAUCER 

The  Parson,  evidently  convinced  that  there  was  too 
much  frivolity  about  most  of  the  stories  told  by  the  other 
pilgrims,  resorts  to  plain  prose  and  delivers  a  lengthy  dis- 
course on  Penitence,  with  a  long-drawn  account  of  the 
Seven  Deadly  Sins.  There  seems  to  be  some  ground  for 
the  view  that  Chaucer's  revised  plan  involved  the  use  of 
the  Parson's  Tale,  dull  as  it  is,  for  the  last  of  the  series. 

15.  Characteristics  of  Chaucer.  None  will  question  the 
universal  recognition  of  Chaucer  as  the  greatest  artist 
and  the  most  important  figure  in  English  literature  up  to 
the  time  of  Spenser  and  Shakespeare.  In  him  we  find  for 
the  first  time  the  peer  of  the  French  and  Italian  writers 
who  were  enriching  their  respective  literatures.  Most 
conspicuous  among  his  traits  is  the  remarkable  talent  for 
description  that  makes  his  delineations  so  clear-cut  and 
unforgettable.  His  narrative  skill  was  also  great  in  his 
later  work,  showing  sound  judgment  of  essentials  in  story- 
telling. Though  he  did  not  undertake  to  lash  the  wrongs 
and  abuses  of  his  day  with  the  zeal  of  an  inspired  reformer, 
he  did  show  a  hearty  contempt  for  the  baser  qualities  of  the 
characters  he  drew.  Satire  and  humor  were  used  with 
excellent  effect  in  reproducing  the  life  of  that  age.  In 
breadth  of  view  and  in  his  indulgent  sympathy  with  the 
frailty  of  well-meaning  but  misguided  creatures,  Chaucer 
anticipated  to  some  extent  one  great  quality  that  marked 
the  genius  of  Shakespeare.  He  knew  and  delineated  with 
keen  insight  all  phases  of  the  life  of  his  time.  Although 
possessed  of  extensive  general  knowledge,  Chaucer  was  not 
a  learned  scholar  in  the  narrower  sense  of  the  term.  He 
read  philosophy  and  dabbled  in  astrology  and  dream-lore. 
Astronomy  and  allied  mathematical  branches  were  familiar 
to  him.  Like  the  author  of  Mandeville's  Travels^  he  seems 
to  have  had  some  notion  of  the  fact  that  the  earth  is  round. 
His  verse  reveals  a  degree  of  smoothness,  grace,  and  variety 
unknown   before   his   time.     To   him   we   owe   many   new 


GEOFFREY  CHAUCER  81 

verse-forms  that  were  either  invented  or  borrowed  from 
continental  writers. 

As  for  his  limitations,  it  has  been  said  that  Chaucer  is 
the  poet  of  the  eye,  not  of  the  heart  or  soul.  He  was  not 
especially  concerned  about  causes  and  effects.  With  unerring 
skill  he  depicted  persons  or  things  as  they  were,  but  he  did 
not  attempt  to  go  much  further.  Even  in  his  masterpiece. 
The  Canterbury  Tales,  he  claimed  only  to  set  down  faith- 
fully what  he  saw  and  heard,  letting  the  reader  form  his 
own  judgments.  However,  Chaucer's  work  will  remain 
for  all  time  among  the  honored  treasures  of  our  literature 
for  its  variety,  vivacity,  and  most  of  all  for  its  superabun- 
dant good  humor. 

;  16.  Chaucer's  Language.  Chaucer  did  not  set  out 
deliberately  to  reform  the  English  language.  He  took  the 
current  dialect  of  London  as  he  found  it  and  added  words 
from  French  or  Latin  when  no  native  equivalent  was  at 
hand,  but  his  borrowings  from  foreign  sources  are  less 
numerous  than  is  generally  supposed.  Passage  for  passage, 
the  intensely  English  poem  of  Piers  Plowman  contains  a 
larger  proportion  of  foreign  words  than  Chaucer,  in  spite  of 
the  various  foreign  influences  to  which  the  courtly  poet  was 
subjected.  By  producing  so  large  and  important  a  body  of 
poetic  literature  in  the  London  (East  Midland)  dialect,  he 
did  much  to  bring  about  the  dominance  of  that  dialect 
over  all  others  and  in  helping  it  to  become  ultimately  the 
standard  speech  of  England.  Had  Chaucer  accomplished 
no  more  than  this,  he  would  fairly  have  won  the  right  to 
be  considered  the  first  great  modern  English  poet. 


CHAPTER  IV 

•    THE  RENAISSANCE 

1.  A  Fallow  Period.  The  period  between  the  death  of 
Chaucer  and  the  Age  of  Elizabeth  is  singularly  lacking  in 
important  literary  figures.  There  were  no  quickening  im- 
pulses like  those  of  the  preceding  epoch.  In  the  literary 
world  it  was  a  period  of  transition,  when  one  series  of  vital- 
izing influences  gradually  dies  out  and  new  sources  of  in- 
spiration begin  to  make  themselves  felt  quite  as  gradually. 
Such  an  age  is  rarely  characterized  by  a  writer  of  outstand- 
ing significance.  Among  the  English  poets  of  the  fifteenth 
century  only  two  call  for  special  mention.  Thomas  Hoccleve 
or  Occleve  (1370.^-1450?)  was  the  author  of  a  poem  called 
The  Governail  of  Princes,  which  he  dedicated  to  that  Prince 
of  Wales  who  is  better  known  as  Prince  Hal  in  the  pages  of 
Shakespeare.  Not  only  is  the  poem  a  frank  imitation  of 
Chaucer,  but  it  reveals  Hoccleve's  regard  for  his  distin- 
guished predecessor,  whom  he  thus  addresses: 

O  maister  dere  and  fader  reverent, 
My  maister  Chaucer!  floure  of  eloquence, 
Mirrour  of  fructuous  entendement,  (intelligence) 
O  universal  fadir  in  science. 

A  poet  of  far  greater  merit  was  John  Lydgate  (1370.^-1451?), 
a  Benedictine  monk  of  Bury  St.  Edmunds,  who  wrote  a 
great  number  of  poems  that  have  not  yet  been  printed. 
His  long  Troye  Book  was  inspired  by  Chaucer's  Troilus 
and  Criseyde.  He  likewise  ventured  to  add  himself  to  the 
procession  of  Chaucer's  Canterbury  pilgrims,  and  wrote 
his  Storie  of  Thebes  as  his  contribution  to  the  tales  told  by 
that  party.  The  Falles  of  Princes  was  Lydgate's  most 
popular  poem.     Among  his   minor  pieces   is  one  entitled 

82 


A   FALLOW   PERIOD 


83 


London  Lickpennyy  which  gives  a  detailed  and  vivid  picture 
of  the  London  of  his  day : 


Medieval  London 

Then  unto  London  I  dyd  me  hye 
Of  all  the  land  it  beareth  the  pryse: 

*  Hot  pescodes,'  one  began  to  crye, 

*  Strabery  rype,  and  cherry es  in  the  ryse  ': 
One  bad  me  come  nere  and  by  some  spyce, 
Peper  and  safforne  they  gan  me  bede,  (oflFer) 
But  for  lack  of  mony  I  myght  not  spede. 


84 


THE  RENAISSANCE 


2.  Scottish  Literature.  The  best  poetry  during  this 
period  was  written  in  Scotland.  King  James  I  of  Scotland 
(1394-1437)  was  a  poet  who  spent  part  of  his  life  in  England 
as  a  political  prisoner.  During  the  nineteen  years  of  his 
captivity  at  Windsor  Castle  he  wrote  his  poem,  The  Kingis 

Quair  (The  King's  Book) 
in  which  he  related  the 
story  of  his  passion  for 
an  English  maiden, 
Lady  Jane  Beaufort, 
with  whom  he  fell  in 
love  in  the  same  manner 
as  Arcite,  in  Chaucer's 
KnighVs  Tale,  first  be- 
held and  loved  the  fair 
Emily.  Somewhat  later 
Robert  Henryson  (1430.?- 
1506.?),  a  teacher  in 
Dumferline,  wrote  his 
Testament  of  Creseide, 
in  which  he  undertook 
to  complete  Chaucer's 
story  of  the  Trojan 
heroine.  He  was  more 
successful,  however,  in 
his  Fables,  which  are 
full  of  imaginative 
quality  and  good 
humor. 


Painting  by  Penrose 

King  James  and  Lady  Jane  Beaufort 


WilUam  Dunbar  (14G0.?-1520.^)  is  usually  considered  the 
best  of  the  Scottish  poets.  He  was  attached  to  the  court 
of  James  IV  and  went  to  London  in  1501  with  the  ambassa- 
dors who  arranged  for  the  marriage  between  King  James 
and  the  Princess  Margaret,  daughter  of  Henry  VII.  His 
poem,  The  Thistle  and  the  Rose,  was  written  in  honor  of  that 


THE   ENGLISH  BALLADS  85 

royal  marriage.  Like  the  work  of  James  I,  it  revealed  the 
poet's  great  obligation  to  Chaucer,  whom  he  imitated 
freely.  Among  his  other  works  are  The  Merle  and  the 
Nightingale  and  The  Dance  of  the  Seven  Deadly  Sins. 
Gawain  Douglas  (1474.^-1522)  wrote  poetry  in  his  early 
years,  but  later  became  interested  in  politics.  Besides 
translating  Virgil's  Aeneid  into  English  for  the  first  time, 
he  wrote  two  .interesting  allegories,  The  Police  of  Honour 
and  King  Hart.  In  the  work  of  these  poets  we  find  a  love 
of  nature  that  was  generally  lacking  in  the  writers  who 
dwelt  south  of  the  Tweed. 

3.  The  English  Ballads.  While  the  successors  of  Chaucer 
were  trying  in  vain  to  rival  the  work  of  their  master,  there 
developed  in  England  a  type  of  popular  ballad  that  acquired 
a  form  distinctly  its  own.  These  songs,  for  they  really 
were  intended  to  be  sung,  may  be  regarded  as  folk-poetry, 
because  they  are  nearly  always  of  composite  origin,  not  the 
work  of  a  single  writer.  No  matter  who  was  responsible 
for  the  first  version,  a  ballad  would  be  altered,  extended,  or 
cut  according  to  the  fancy  of  the  singer.  Thus  they  were 
handed  on  from  one  generation  to  another.  In  some  cases 
ballads  have  survived  in  widely  different  versions.  For 
the  most  part  they  are  quaint  in  wording  and  with  a  homely 
rhythm  that  must  have  appealed  to  the  common  people. 
The  prevailing  ballad  stanza  has  four  lines,  in  which  the 
first  and  third  lines,  which  may  be  rhymed  or  unrhymed,  have 
four  accents,  while  the  second  and  fourth  lines,  which  are 
rhymed,  have  three  accents.  Thus  the  opening  stanza  of 
Sir  Patrick  Spens: 

The  King  sits  in  Dumferline  toune 

Drinking  the  blude-red  wine, 
*  O  whar  will  I  get  a  guid  sailor 

To  sail  this  ship  of  mine?  ' 

A  great  many  subjects  were  treated  in  ballad  form.  One 
group  related  the  details  of  glorious  battles,  such  as  the 


86  THE   RENAISSANCE 

famous  Chevy  Chase,  celebrating  the  battle  of  Otterburn 
(1388)  between  Earl  Percy  and  Earl  Douglas,  of  which  Sir 
Philip  Sidney  said  it  moved  his  heart  more  than  a  trumpet. 
Others  dealt  with  romantic  love  stories,  happy  or  unhappy, 
such  as  The  Douglas  Tragedy  and  The  Twa  Corbies.  Many 
ballads  told  of  spirited  adventure  in  the  greenwood,  such 
as  Adam  Bell,  Clym  of  the  C lough,  and  William  of  Cloudsley. 
Another  group  introduced  ghosts  or  similar  apparitions, 
as  in  Fair  Margaret  and  Siveet  William  and  The  Wife  of 
Usher's  Well,  where  the  ghosts  of  three  drowned  men  appear 
at  the  home  of  their  grieving  mother.  Some  related  his- 
torical or  legendary  events,  as  Sir  Patrick  Spens  or  St. 
Stephen  and  Herod.  Among  domestic  ballads  we  find  The 
Cruel  Brother,  and  also  The  Bailiff's  Daughter  of  Islington, 
which  tells  a  pretty  story  of  a  youth's  devotion  for  seven 
long  years  to  a  disdainful  sweetheart  and  how  his  love  was 
at  last  rewarded. 

The  most  famous  series  included  those  dealing  with  Robin 
Hood  and  his  band  of  merry  men  in  Sherwood  Forest.  In 
Robin  we  have  an  idealized  outlaw,  surrounded  by  a  band 
of  boon  companions  like  Little  John,  Friar  Tuck,  Will 
Scarlett,  and  AUan-a-Dale.  These  all  take  delight  in  rob- 
bing the  rich,  helping  the  poor,  and  playing  clever  tricks  on 
the  proud  sheriff  of  Nottingham.  Our  sympathies  are 
usually  with  the  lawbreakers,  not  with  the  representatives 
of  the  law.  We  rejoice  when  Robin  Hood  rescues  the 
widow's  three  sons  who  were  condemned  to  die  in  Notting- 
ham town  for  no  worse  offense  than  slaying  the  king's 
fallow  deer;  we  delight  in  the  outcome  of  Robin's  contest 
in  archery  with  Guy  of  Gisborne;  we  grieve  at  the  end  of 
Robin's  career,  when  the  brave  outlaw  is  treacherously 
permitted  to  bleed  to  death  by  the  prioress  of  Kirkley  Hall. 
Robin  Hood  is  an  interesting  figure  in  Scott's  Ivanhoe, 
where  he  appears  under  the  name  of  Locksley. 

Perhaps  the  most  poetic  of  the  ballads  is  The  Nvi-Browne 


MORTE  D'ARTHUR  87 

Mayde,  which  is  really  a  dialogue  between  a  maid  and  her 
sweetheart.  The  knight  tells  her  that  he  has  been  ban- 
ished and  must  flee  to  the  greenwood.  When  she  insists 
upon  accompanying  him,  he  describes  the  rigors  of  the 
outlaw's  life  and  urges  her  to  stay  behmd.  Finding  that 
she  insists  upon  sharing  his  sorrow  as  well  as  his  joy,  he 
admits  that  he  was  not  banished  after  all,  but  that  he  was 
trying  her  constancy  and  is  happy  because  she  stood  the 
test  so  well.  He  then  reveals  the  fact  that  he  is  an  earl's 
son,  and  both  are  supremely  happy.  While  most  of  the 
ballads  are  crude  in  form,  The  Nut-Brovme  Mayde  is  a 
work  of  considerable  literary  art  and  holds  high  rank  among 
the  poems  of  that  period. 

4.  Morte  d'Arthur.  The  most  important  prose  work  of 
the  fifteenth  century  was  Morte  d' Arthur  {Death  of  Arthur) 
written  about  1470  by  Sir  Thomas  Malory,  Knight.  We 
know  little  about  Malory  himself,  save  that  he  was  a  gen- 
tleman of  an  ancient  house  and  a  soldier,  but  we  are  ever- 
lastingly indebted  to  him  for  having  collected  the  numerous 
stories  that  developed  about  the  heroic  King  Arthur  and 
his  Knights  of  the  Round  Table.  Few  of  the  older  versions 
of  Arthurian  stories  are  as  well  told  as  Malory's,  and  many 
writers  of  later  ages  who  sought  to  improve  upon  him  have 
made  a  less  favorable  impression.  No  other  book  of  any 
age  expresses  so  completely  the  spirit  of  medieval  romance 
as  does  Morte  d' Arthur.  Not  only  have  our  greatest  modern 
poets  turned  to  Malory  for  their  inspiration,  but  even  the 
general  reader  still  finds  in  Morte  d' Arthur  a  treasure-trove 
of  courtly  adventure.  Those  who  are  familiar  with  Tenny- 
son's description  of  the  death  of  Elaine  in  Lancelot  and 
Elaine  will  find  the  following  extract  from  Malory  most 
interesting: 

And  thenne  she  called  her  fader  Sire  Bernard  and  her  brother 
Sir  Tyrre,  and  hertely  she  praid  her  fader  that  her  brother 
myght  wryte  a  letter  lyke  as  she  did  endyte  hit;  and  so  her 


88  THE  RENAISSANCE 

fader  graunted  her.  And  whan  the  letter  was  wry  ten  word 
by  word  lyke  as  she  devysed,  thenne  she  prayd  her  fader  that 
she  myght  be  watched  iintyl  she  were  dede.  "  And  whyle  my 
body  is  hote,  lete  this  letter  be  putt  in  my  ryght  hand,  and  my 
hande  bounde  fast  with  the  letter  untyl  that  I  be  cold,  and 
lete  me  be  putte  in  a  fayre  bedde  with  alle  the  rychest  clothes 
that  I  have  aboute  me,  and  so  lete  my  bedde  and  alle  my  rychest 
clothes  be  laide  with  me  in  a  charyot  unto  the  next  place  where 
Temse  is,  and  there  lete  me  be  putte  within  a  barget,  and  but 
one  man  with  me,  suche  as  ye  trust  to  stere  me  thyder,  and 
that  my  barget  be  coverd  with  blak  samyte  over  and  over. 
Thus,  fader,  I  byseche  yow  lete  hit  be  done."  Soo  her  fader 
graunted  hit  her  feythfuUy,  alle  thynge  shold  be  done  lyke 
as  she  devysed.  Thenne  her  fader  and  her  broder  made  grete 
dole,  for  when  this  was  done,  anone  she  dyed.  And  soo  whan 
she  was  dede,  the  corps,  and  the  bedde,  alle  was  ledde  the 'next 
way  unto  Temse,  and  there  a  man,  and  the  corps,  and  alle, 
were  put  in  to  Temse,  and  soo"  the  man  styred  the  barget  unto 
Westmynster,  and  there  he  rowed  a  grete  whyle  to  and  fro 
or  ony  aspyed  hit. 

Morte  d' Arthur  takes  rank  as  the  most  important  work 
in  English  between  Chaucer  and  Spenser.  It  is  the  one 
supreme  romance  of  our  earlier  literature  and  is  still  more 
highly  treasured  than  most  of  the  prose  written  in  the  greater 
days  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 

6.  The  Renaissance.  The  transition  from  the  medieval 
world  to  the  modern  period  was  marked  by  a  Revival  of 
Learning,  or  Renaissance,  as  it  is  usually  called.  It  is  a 
mistake  to  suppose,  however,  that  the  scholars  of  the  Middle 
Ages  were  ignorant  of  Greek  and  Latin.  From  the  days  of 
the  Venerable  Bede  there  was  in  the  English  monasteries 
and  cathedral  schools  an  uninterrupted  procession  of  learned 
men  who  knew  their  classics  well,  especially  the  Latin  prose 
writers.  What  the  Renaissance  really  implies  is  a  new 
point  of  view  in  the  study  of  the  classics  —  no  longer 
were  they  regarded  as  mere  records  of  learning  or  of  the 
practical  wisdom  accumulated  by  the  ancient  world,  but  as 
literature,    possessing    an    interest    because    they    reflected 


WILLIAM  CAXTON  89 

the  ideas  of  bygone  ages  with  charm  and  beauty  of  style. 
Much  stress  has  been  laid  upon  the  capture  of  Constanti- 
nople by  the  Turks  in  1453,  which  caused  the  scholars  to 
flee  to  Italy  with  their  precious  manuscripts  of  the  classics; 
but  the  revival  of  a  sincere  regard  for  ancient  learning  began 
in  Florence  and  in  other  Italian  cities  long  before  that 
event.  The  fugitive  scholars  from  the  East  carried  their 
traditions  beyond  Italy  into  France  and  England.  Soon 
the  spirit  of  the  New  Learning  was  rife  throughout  western 
Europe.  Not  only  in  Hterature,  but  in  art  and  in  architec- 
ture the  quickening  force  of  the  new  movement  made  itself 
felt.  New  ideas  had  been  brought  home  from  the  Orient 
by  the  returning  Crusaders.  Men  of  the  aristocracy  began 
to  take  an  interest  in  the  work  of  the  scholars  and  to  be- 
come patrons  of  learning.  Printing  from  movable  type 
—  an  invention  developed  by  Gutenberg  at  Mainz  about 
1450  —  soon  made  possible  a  widespread  scattering  of 
knowledge.  The  wearisome  transcription  of  manuscripts 
in  the  monasteries  became  a  thing  of  the  past.  Hard  upon 
the  introduction  of  printing  came  an  age  of  remarkable 
geographical  discovery  —  the  voyages  of  Columbus  and  the 
Cabots  across  the  perilous  ocean,  and  not  many  years  later, 
the  circumnavigation  of  the  globe  by  Magellan.  During  a 
period  of  little  over  half  a  century  the  world  made  more 
rapid  strides  in  civilization  than  during  the  preceding  thou- 
sand years. 

6.  William  Caxton  (1422?-1491).  At  the  time  of  the 
invention  of  printing  there  was  living  in  Flanders  —  then  a 
very  prosperous  center  of  art  and  commerce — a  Kentish 
merchant  named  William  Caxton.  A  French  collection  of 
stories  dealing  with  the  Trojan  War  fell  into  his  hands,  and 
he  translated  the  work  as  a  Recuyell  of  the  History es  of  Troye, 
which  he  had  printed  at  Bruges  about  1474,  thus  giving  to 
the  Troy  romances  the  honor  of  being  the  first  printed 
book  in  the  English  language.     A  few  years  later  Caxton 


90 


THE  RENAISSANCE 


^^,      «      til     -^m 

I 
S 

I 

.2 


WILLIAM  TYNDALE  91 

took  a  printing-press  to  London  and  set  up  his  business  near 
Westminster  Abbey.  From  that  time  onward  he  was  a 
zealous  publisher,  winning  for  himself  a  name  not  only  as 
the  first  English  printer,  but  as  a  translator  with  a  real  ap- 
preciation of  the  niceties  of  literature.  After  producing 
a  few  smaller  books  he  undertook  such  printing  as  Chaucer's 
Canterbury  Tales,  the  Chronicles  of  England^  Aesop's  Fables, 
Virgil's  Aeneid  in  paraphrase,  and  perhaps  most  significant 
of  all,  Malory's  Morte  d^ Arthur  in  1485.  Besides  printing 
nearly  eighty  books,  he  translated  twenty-one  books  into 
English,  mostly  French  romances  that  were  still  very  popular. 
It  is  curious  to  note  that  Caxton  did  not  print  any  version 
of  the  Bible.  Some  critics  have  censured  him  for  devoting 
so  much  of  his  time  to  the  translating  and  printing  of  what 
they  regarded  as  frivolous  romances,  but  Caxton  performed 
a  real  service  in  making  more  generally  available  many  of 
the  best  stories  that  were  current  in  the  literature  of  his  own 
and  earlier  times. 

7.  William  Tyndale  (1490?-1536).  During  the  century 
or  more  that  had  elapsed  since  Wycliffe  translated  the 
Bible  into  English,  there  had  been  many  changes  in  the 
language.  William  Tyndale,  a  scholar  and  cleric  who  had 
been  educated  at  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  desired  to  provide 
a  new  English  version  of  the  Bible  for  the  use  of  his  fellow- 
countrymen.  As  he  could  not  safely  undertake  that  work 
in  England,  he  went  to  the  Continent,  carried  out  his  plan, 
and  had  his  version  of  the  New  Testament  printed  at  Ant- 
werp in  1525.  In  the  reHgious  controversy  that  attended 
the  Reformation,  Tyndale  was  on  the  Protestant  side.  The 
widespread  circulation  of  his  English  version  aroused  the 
active  opposition  of  his  enemies.  He  went  into  hiding  and 
fled  from  place  to  place,  meanw^hile  working  on  his  trans- 
lation of  the  Old  Testament.  Finally  he  was  betrayed 
and  imprisoned  for  eighteen  months.  Then  he  was  strangled 
and  his  body  burned  at  the  stake. 


92 


THE  RENAISSANCE 


Tyndale's  Bible  was  completed  by  Miles  Coverdale, 
Bishop  of  Exeter,  who  in  1535  directed  the  publication  of 
the  first  printed  translation  of  the  complete  Bible.  A  revised 
form,  known  as  the  Great  Bible,  appeared  in  1539  and  this 
was  used  in  every  parish  church  in  England  a  few  short 
years  after  other  brave  translators  had  been  hounded  to 
death  or  driven  into  exile  for  venturing  to  render  the  Scrip- 
tures into  the  English  tongue.     The  famous  Geneva  Bible 


lUug 


llarvf.v 


The  Chained  Bible 


of  1560  was  the  most  important  of  the  English  Bibles  pre- 
vious to  the  Authorized  Version  or  King  James  Bible  of  1611. 
8.  Sir  Thomas  More  (1478-1535).  Among  the  many 
Renaissance  scholars  who  gave  distinction  to  the  reign  of 
Henry  VIII  none  was  more  highly  esteemed  than  Sir  Thomas 
More,  who  took  greater  interest  in  his  classical  books  than 
in  his  legal  or  political  affairs.  He  stood  well  in  the  King's 
favor  and  was  advanced  rapidly  at  court  until  he  had  at- 
tained the  dignity  of  Lord  High  Chancellor.     In  the  religious 


ROGER  ASCHAM 


93 


upheaval  of  Henry's  reign  More  ventured  to  oppose  the 
King,  and  was  condemned  and  executed  in  1535.  His  interest 
to  the  student  of  hterature  Hes  mainly  in  a  Latin  work 
named  Utopia,  published  at  Lou  vain  in  1516  and  trans- 
lated into  English  by  Ralph  Robinson  in  1551.  Utopia 
(meaning  Nowhere  in  Greek)  gives  a  picture  of  an  ideal 
commonwealth,  where  men 
have  solved  the  problem 
of  living  happily  together 
in  a  well-ordered  social 
body.  The  mythical 
country  of  Utopia  had 
many  institutions  in  ad- 
vance of  our  own  and  repre- 
sented an  inspired  vision  of 
ideal  existence  tempered  by 
the  sound  common  sense 
of  the  learned  author. 
Some  of  the  rational  ideas 
advocated  by  More  became 
realities  in  the  later  history 
of  his  country,  but  there 
are  still  others  that 
might   be   adopted   for  the   lasting   benefit   of   mankind. 

9.  Roger  Ascham  (1515-1568).  One  of  the  later  scholars 
of  the  Renaissance  was  Roger  Ascham,  tutor  of  the  ill-fated 
Lady  Jane  Grey  and  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  Ascham  was  a 
graduate  of  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge,  and  became  a 
fellow  at  that  University.  He  was  an  amiable,  tactful  man, 
quite  as  much  noted  for  his  personal  qualities  as  for  his 
learning.  When  Henry  VIII  returned  from  a  French  cam- 
paign in  1545,  Ascham  dedicated  to  him  a  treatise  entitled 
Toxophilus  (a  lover  of  archery)  in  which  he  showed  the 
moral  and  physical  advantages  of  the  popular  sport  of 
archery  and  argued  in  very  modern  fashion  for  the  advan- 


Painting  by  Holbein 

Sir  Thomas  More 


94  THE  RENAISSANCE 

tages  of  field-sports  in  general.  Ascham  not  only  won  the 
King's  favor  and  a  pension  of  ten  pounds  by  his  dedication, 
but  he  remained  in  Henry's  good  graces  till  the  death  of 
that  inconstant  monarch,  and  then  held  important  state 
positions  during  the  troublesome  reigns  of  Henry's  three 
children,  Edward  VI,  Mary,  and  Elizabeth.  His  second 
treatise.  The  Scholemaster  (1570),  was  published  after  his 
death.  In  it  he  sought  to  distinguish  between  the  profitable 
pursuit  of  education  and  mere  futile  pedantry  that  gets 
nowhere;  he  upheld  the  classics,  especially  those  of  Greece, 
for  their  cultural  value;  he  denounced  in  strong  terms  the 
reading  of  romances  and  idle  stories  from  continental  sources. 
Ascham  is  of  special  interest  because,  unlike  More,  Erasmus, 
and  other  learned  men  of  that  age,  he  preferred  to  write  his 
treatises  in  English  instead  of  Latin.  He  deserves  credit 
for  being  among  the  first  to  accept  his  mother-tongue  as  a 
suitable  medium  for  works  of  a  scholarly  character. 

10.  Italian  Influences:  Wyatt  and  Surrey.  Not  all  the 
literature  produced  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII  and  his 
immediate  successors  was  in  prose.  A  new  group  of  courtly 
poets  had  arisen  and  their  effusions  were  circulated  in  manu- 
script for  the  benefit  of  their  friends.  Some  of  these  poets 
had  traveled  on  the  Continent,  especially  in  Italy,  and  had 
brought  back  new  metrical  graces  to  adorn  their  efforts  in 
English  verse.  Notable  among  the  well-born  poets  were 
Sir  Thomas  Wyatt  (1503.5^-1542)  and  the  Earl  of  Surrey 
(1517P-1547).  Although  neither  of  them  wrote  very  signifi- 
cant poetry,  each  won  the  renown  of  introducing  a  distinc- 
tive verse-form  that  became  popular  with  later  poets. 
Wyatt  introduced  the  sonnet,  which  was  so  admirably  used 
in  after  times  by  Milton,  Wordsworth,  and  Rossetti,  as  well 
as  by  Shakespeare  in  a  modified  form.  It  is  not  difficult 
to  recognize  a  sonnet,  as  it  always  has  fourteen  lines  of  five 
accented  (iambic  pentameter)  verse.  There  are  two  parts 
—  the  octave,  or  first  eight  lines,  which  rhyme  abbaabba, 


ITALIAN   INFLUENCES  95 

and  the  sestet,  or  last  six  lines,  which  usually  rhyme  c  d  c  d  c  d 
or  c  d  e  c  d  e,  although  various  other  combinations  are 
possible.  The  following  sonnet  by  Wyatt  will  serve  to 
show  the  Italian  model: 

The  Lover's  Life  Compared  to  the  Alps 

Like  unto  these  unmeasurable  mountains 

So  is  my  painful  life,  the  burden  of  ire; 

For  high  be  they,  and  high  is  my  desire; 
And  I  of  tears  and  they  be  full  of  fountains: 
Under  craggy  rocks  they  have  barren  plains; 

Hard  thought  in  me  my  woful  mind  doth  tire: 

Small  fruit  and  many  leaves  their  tops  do  attire: 
With  small  effect  great  trust  in  me  remains: 

The  boisterous  winds  oft  their  high  boughs  do  blast; 

Hot  sighs  in  me  continually  be  shed: 

Wild  beasts  in  them,  fierce  love  in  me  is  fed; 
Unmovable  am  I,  and  tliey  stedfast. 

Of  singing  birds  they  have  the  tune  and  note; 

And  I  always  plaints  passing  through  my  throat. 

The  Earl  of  Surrey  was  the  first  poet  to  use  blank  verse 
in  English.  He  rendered  a  part  of  Virgil's  Aeneid  into 
English,  using  a  form  that  was  later  generally  adopted  by 
the  Elizabethan  dramatists  and  especially  glorified  in  the 
work  of  Shakespeare.  While  Surrey's  blank  verse  (or 
unrhymed  iambic  lines  of  five  accents)  lacked-  the  distinc- 
tion that  it  afterwards  achieved  at  the  hands  of  other  writers, 
its  quahty  may  be  determined  from  this  specimen  describing 
the  departure  of  Aeneas  from  Carthage: 

Aeneas  of  this  sudden  vision 
Adread,  starts  up  out  of  his  sleep  in  haste. 
Calls  up  his  feres  (comrades) :  "  Awake,  get  up,  my  men! 
Aboard  your  ships  and  hoise  up  sail  with  speed. 
A  god  me  wills,  sent  from  above  again. 
To  haste  my  flight  and  wreathen  cables  cut." 

In  1557  —  only  a  year  before  Ehzabeth  became  Queen 
-^  there  appeared  a  remarkable  collection  of  English  poetry 


90  THE  RENAISSANCE 

called  TotteVs  Miscellany,  which  contamed  the  best  verse 
of  Wyatt  and  Surrey,  as  well  as  the  lyrical  efforts  of  less 
well-known  writers.  That  volume  marks  the  beginning  of 
the  great  Hterary  outburst  that  was  to  characterize  the 
Elizabethan  Age  as  one  of  the  leading  periods  in  the  world's 
literature. 


CHAPTER   V 

THE  ELIZABETHAN  AGE 

1.  An  Age  of  Expansion.  The  long  reign  of  Elizabeth 
(1558-1603)  followed  immediately  after  the  very  short 
reigns  of  her  Protestant  half-brother,  Edward  VI  (1547-1553), 
and  her  Catholic  half-sister,  Mary  (1553-1558).  From  the 
time  of  the  Reformation  and  Henry  VIII 's  quarrel  with  the 
Roman  Church,  England  had  been  in  a  state  of  turmoil. 
There  had  been  repeated  religious  persecutions  and  much 
intolerance  on  all  sides.  With  the  accession  of  the  "Vir- 
gin Queen'*  a  new  and  remarkable  age  began.  Elizabeth 
was  twenty-five  years  old  at  the  time  of  her  accession,  un- 
usually well  educated  for  the  period,  and  thoroughly  devoted 
to  the  welfare  of  her  country  and  her  subjects.  She  refused 
to  show  undue  favor  to  any  party  and  insisted  upon  broad 
tolerance  for  all.  By  the  time  she  had  reigned  twenty- 
five  years  England  had  experienced  a  great  industrial  and 
commercial  development.  Her  explorers  were  bringing 
back  treasure  and  stories  of  remarkable  adventures  in  the 
New  World;  her  merchants  and  navigators  were  challeng- 
ing the  maritime  supremacy  of  Spain.  With  the  crushing 
of  the  "Invincible  Armada"  sent  out  by  the  proud  Spaniards 
in  1588  there  came  the  crowning  years  of  her  reign.  England 
had  never  known  such  a  period  of  patriotic  fervor  as  in  the 
decade  that  followed.  The  wealth  of  literary  expression, 
especially  in  poetry  and  drama,  made  manifest  the  general 
recognition  of  the  grandeur  of  the  age.  The  poets  vied  with 
each  other  in  their  tributes  to  the  Queen  and  to  her  innumer- 
able virtues;    the  dramatists  fired  the  imagination  of  the 

97 


THE  ELIZABETHAN  AGE 


ELIZABETHAN  PROSE  99 

crowds  that  gathered  daily  to  witness  the  plays  in  the 
theaters.  As  we  read  the  pages  of  Sidney,  Raleigh,  Spenser, 
Shakespeare,  and  their  host  of  literary  associates  we  cannot 
fail  to  catch  something  of  the  almost  universal  enthusiasm 
for  "good  Queen  Bess"  and  the  unparalleled  glory  that  her 
beneficent.reign  had  brought  to  England. 

2.  Elizabethan  Prose.  The  least  important  contribution 
to  literature  during  this  period  was  in  prose  form.  Apart 
from  Bacon's  Essays,  none  of  the  Elizabethan  prose  works 
found  their  way  into  enduring  literature.  This  was  not  so 
much  due  to  any  lack  of  inspiration  in  the  writers  as  to  a 
defect  in  style  that  is  quite  evident  when  we  compare  the 
prose  with  that  of  later  periods.  Medieval  scholars,  who 
had  been  accustomed  to  writing  in  Latin,  evolved  long 
and  complicated  sentences  in  that  language.  The  earliest 
English  prose  writers  followed  that  tradition,  because  they 
did  not  realize  the  strength  and  ease  of  the  shorter,  simpler 
sentences  with  which  we  are  now  familiar.  They  permitted 
their  loosely  jointed  clauses  to  ramble  on  indefinitely  with 
a  wealth  of  ornamentation  and  elaborate  digression  that 
achieved  novelty  at  times,  but  rarely  clearness  or  force. 
The  imaginative  power  of  the  age,  which  did  so  much  to 
glorify  the  poetry  and  drama  produced  during  the  reign 
of  Elizabeth,  was  really  a  hindrance  to  the  development  of 
a  direct  and  effective  prose  style. 

This  tendency  toward  artificiality  of  expression  was  most 
marked  in  the  writings  of  John  Lyly  (1554P-1606),  whose 
popular  prose  romance,  Euphues,  or  the  Anatomy  of  Wit 
(1579),  not  only  set  a  style  in  ornamental  writing,  but  gave 
us  the  word  euphuisniy  which  is  still  used  in  reference  to  that 
particular  practice.  We  must  not  think  of  euphuism  as 
meaning  the  use  of  big  words,  or  of  writing  in  a  rhythmical 
manner.  It  really  means  the  use  of  unfamiliar  words  or 
phrases,  usually  of  Greek  or  Latin  origin,  a  balanced  form 
of  construction  with  phrase  against  phrase,  or  clause  against 


100  THE  ELIZABETHAN  AGE 

clause,  a  fondness  for  alliteration  and  quaint  lengthy  similes, 
frequently  drawn  from  the  most  imusual  sources.  The 
euphuist  consciously  indulged  in  elaborate  verbal  gymnas- 
tics; he  juggled  his  words  and  phrases  in  a  fantastic  manner 
calculated  to  win  the  admiration  of  his  reader.  A  quota- 
tion from  Lyly's  own  pages  will  serve  best  to  illustrate  the 
style.  In  Euphues  the  Lady  Flavia  asks  one  of  the  gentle- 
men if  he  considers  it  desirable  for  young  men  and  women 
to  associate  freely.  He  repUes  in  a  long  disquisition  ending 
as  follows: 

I  think.  Madam,  you  will  not  be  so  precise,  to  cut  off  all  con- 
ference, because  love  cometh  by  often  communication,  which 
if  you  do,  let  us  all  now  presently  depart,  lest  in  seeing  the 
beauty  which  dazzleth  our  eyes,  and  hearing* the  wisdom  which 
tickleth  our  ears,  we  be  enflamed  with  love. 

But  you  shall  never  beat  the  fly  from  the  candle  though  he 
burn,  nor  the  quail  from  hemlock,  though  it  be  poison,  nor  the 
lover  from  the  company  of  his  lady  though  it  be  perilous.  .  .  . 

A  lover  is  like  the  herb  heliotropium,  which  always  inclineth 
to  that  place  where  the  sun  shmeth,  and  being  deprived  of  the 
sun,  dieth.  F.or  as  lunaris  herb,  as  long  as  the  moon  waxeth, 
bringeth  forth  leaves,  and  in  the  waning  shaketh  them  off; 
so  a  lover  whilst  he  is  in  the  company  of  his  lady,  where  all 
joys  increase,  uttereth  many  pleasant  conceits,  but  banished 
from  the  sight  of  his  mistress,  where  all  mirth  decreaseth,  either 
liveth  in  melancholy,  or  dieth  with  desperation. 

Needless  to  say,  even  the  Elizabethans  were  aware  of  the 
defects  of  such  a  style.  The  younger  writers  were  tempted 
to  introduce  the  graces  of  euphuism  into  their  work,  but  the 
wiser  men  exposed  it  to  ridicule.  Euphuism  is  most  in- 
teresting to  us  because  of  its  influence  on  Shakespeare. 
In  his  earlier  plaj^s,  like  Love's  Labor's  LosU  we  find  several 
courtiers  seriously  using  the  euphuistic  style  in  their  con- 
versation, but  in  the  mature  play  of  Hamlet,  Shakespeare 
lets  the  silly  fop  Osric  talk  euphuistically  only  to  have  his 
"golden  words"  ridiculed  by  Hamlet. 


SIR   PHILIP  SIDNEY 


101 


The  only  minor  Elizabethan  prose' Wi'ilei-S'iii'whottiVe  "are- 
interested  to-day  are  those  whose  works  influenced  Shake- 
speare. These  include  Raphael  Holinshed,  whose  Chronicle, 
or  Annals  of  England,  gave  Shakespeare  so  much  material 
for  the  plays  dealing  with  legendary  or  actual  British  history; 
Sir  Thomas  North,  whose  excellent  translation  of  Plutarch's 
Lives  did  similar  service  for  the  plays  with  a  Greek  or  Roman 
setting;  Thomas  Lodge,  who  wrote  a  romance,  Rosalynde, 
which  supplied  the  plot  for  As  You  Like  It,  and  finally, 
Robert  Greene,  whose  Pandosto  was  the  source  for  The 
Winter's  Tale.  The  most  important  theological  writers  of 
the  period  were  Richard  Hooker,  who  wrote  Of  the  Laws  of 
Ecclesiastical  Polity  for  learned  readers,  and  John  Foxe, 
whose  Book  of  Martyrs 
made  popular  the  stir- 
ring stories  of  the  heroes 
of  the  Reformation  and 
had  a  marked  influence 
upon  the  development 
of  Puritan  thought  in 
England. 

3.  Sir  Philip  Sidney 
(1554-1586).  Among 
the  illustrious  Eliza- 
bethans who  wrote  both 
prose  and  poetry  there 
is  no  figure  more 
romantic  than  that  of 
Sir  Phihp  Sidney,  often 
spoken  of  as  the  "first 
gentleman"  of  Eliza- 
beth's court.  His  noble 
birth,  his  ideal  character,  and  the  memorable  incident  of 
his  untimely  death  on  the  battle-field  of  Zutphen,  all  serve 
to  make   his  career  worthy  of  study,  even  more  so  than 


Sir  Philip  Sidney 


lOe  'IHE  ELIZABETHAN  AGE 

hfe  4iterki^  WorkiS.  ^  Me  attached  little  importance  to  his 
writings  and  had  apparently  the  nobleman's  disdain  for  any 
glory  that  might  come  from  them.  None  of  his  works  was 
published  during  his  lifetime.  His  most  important  prose- 
work  was  Arcadia,  a  long  pastoral  romance,  written  for  the 
entertainment  of  his  sister,  the  Countess  of  Pembroke.  In 
it  he  depicted  the  delights  of  the  shepherd's  calling  and  in 
very  poetic  language  glorified  a  kind  of  Utopian  existence 
in  the  land  of  make-believe.  Although  Sidney  thought  so 
little  of  this  romance  as  to  charge  his  sister  to  destroy  the 
manuscript  after  she  had  wearied  of  it,  Arcadia  was  published 
in  1590  and  became  a  source  of  inspiration  to  many  poets  of 
the  period.  Shakespeare  drew  from  it  the  sub-plot  for  the 
story  of  Gloster  and  his  two  sons  in  King  Lear. 

The  Apologie  for  Poetrie  (printed  1595),  now  usually  en- 
titled The  Defense  of  Poesie,  was  written  in  reply  to  a  Puri- 
tan pamphleteer  who  had  denounced  the  poetry  of  the  age. 
The  style  of  Sidney's  treatise  is.  rather  heavy  and  un- 
natural, but  the  work  deserves  recognition  as  our  first 
essay  in  literary  criticism.  Sidney's  most  important  poetical 
work  was  Astrophel  and  Stella,  a  series  of  songs  and  sonnets 
addressed  to  a  former  sweetheart.  Lady  Penelope  Devereux, 
who  had  wedded  another  nobleman.  These  sonnets  rank 
among  the  best  love-poems  in  our  language. 

4.  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  (1552-1618).  Even  more  versa- 
tile than  Sidney  was  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  whose  life  revealed 
the  remarkable  activities  that  lay  within  reach  of  an  Eliza- 
bethan. Born  in  Devonshire,  the  home  of  so  many  great 
sea-rovers,  he  was  educated  at  Oriel  College,  Oxford,  and 
at  seventeen  was  a  soldier  fighting  in  the  ranks  of  the  French 
Protestants.  He  was  received  with  favor  at  court  and 
knighted  by  Elizabeth.  The  story  of  his  spreading  his 
cloak  in  the  mire  for  the  Queen  to  walk  over  is  the  one  uni- 
versal anecdote  associated  with  his  name.  He  took  part 
in  the  defeat  of  the  Spanish  Armada  in  1588  and  seven 


SIR  FRANCIS  BACON 


103 


years  later  set  out  on  a  voyage  in  search  of  the  mythical 
El  Dorado.  The  account  of  his  adventures  in  South  America 
was  published  (1596)  as  The  Discovery  of  Guiana.  He  dis- 
tinguished himself  as  a  soldier  in  the  later  wars  with  Spain, 
but  after  the  death  of  Elizabeth  he  lost  favor  at  court. 
In  1603  he  was  found 
guilty  of  treason  and 
imprisoned  for  thirteen 
years  in  the  Tower, 
where  he  wrote  his 
fragmentary  History  of 
the  World.  After  his 
release  he  made 
another  expedition  to 
America,  but  on  his 
return  to  England  in 
1618  was  arrested  and, 
to  please  the  court  of 
Spain,  was  beheaded 
for  treason.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  prose  works 
already  mentioned  he 
wrote  sonnets  and  love- 
poems  of  excellent  merit.  Among  the  courtly  singers  he 
alone  rivaled  the  popularity  of  Sidney  and  proved  himself 
as  capable  of  composing  a  tender  lyric  as  of  chasing  a 
Spanish  galleon.  Although  his  literary  reputation  has  been 
somewhat  obscured  by  his  varied  activities  as  soldier, 
courtier,  explorer,  and  political  adventurer,  Raleigh  is  recog- 
nized to-day  as  the  most  fascinating  figure  of  his  age. 

5.  Sir  Francis  Bacon  (1561-1626).  The  leading  prose 
writer  of  the  period  was  Sir  Francis  Bacon,  whose  career 
covered  virtually  the  two  long  reigns  of  Elizabeth  and 
James  I.  He  was  born  in  London,  as  son  of  Sir  Nicholas 
Bacon,  the  Lord  Keeper  of  the  Great  Seal.     After  spending 


Sir  Walter  Raleigh 


104 


THE  ELIZABETHAN  AGE 


two  years  at  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  he  took  up  the 
study  of  law  at  Gray's  Inn.  He  was  only  sixteen  when 
he  accompanied  the  English  ambassador  to  France,  where 
he  spent  several  years,  mastering  the  arts  of  diplomacy. 
In  1582  he  was  called  to  the  bar  and  two  years  later  was 
elected  to  Parliament.  His  career  as  a  statesman  was 
notable,  and  he  soon  established  a  reputation  for  eloquence. 
He  was  repeatedly  elected  to  Parliament  and  in  1594  be- 
came Learned  Counsel  to  the 
Queen.  After  the  death  of 
Elizabeth  in  1603,  Bacon, 
unlike  so  many  who  had 
won  favor  with  her,  retained 
the  good  will  of  James  I  and 
rose  with  startling  rapidity 
to  high  places.  He  was 
knighted  and  within  a  few 
years  became  Solicitor- 
General  and  then  Attorney- 
General.  In  1616  he  was 
made  Privy  Councilor  and 
two  years  later  became  Lord 
Chancellor,  besides  being 
elevated  to  the  peerage  as 
Baron  Verulam.  There  was 
however,  and  Bacon  had  to 
In  1621,  shortly  after  he 


Sir  Francis  Bacon 


soon  a  turn  in  his  fortunes 
endure  the  stings  of  adversity, 
had  been  made  a  viscount,  he  was  convicted  on  the  charge 
of  accepting  bribes.  The  sentence  involved  his  loss  of 
oflfice,  the  enormous  fine  of  £40,000,  and  imprisonment  in 
the  Tower.  The  King,  who  was  still  friendly,  soon  released 
him  and  granted  him  an  annual  pension  of  £1200.  Bacon 
spent  the  last  five  years  of  his  life  in  comparative  retire- 
ment, devoting  his  time  to  study  and  writing. 

Bacon's  Essays,  for  which  he  is  principally  remembered 


SIR   FRANCIS  BACON  105 

to-day,  appeared  in  1597  and  were  the  only  important 
writings  that  he  pubHshed  during  the  Ufetime  of  Ehzabeth. 
Only  ten  essays  appeared  at  that  time,  but  by  the  close  of 
his  life  he  had  extended  the  series  to  fifty-eight.  This 
collection  is  noted  for  the  great  amount  of  practical  wisdom 
packed  within  the  little  space  of  the  individual  essays,  for 
they  are  nearly  all  brief  and  very  clearly  written.  They 
cover  a  wide  range  of  subjects,  from  "Friendship"  to 
"Envy,"  and  from  "Fortune"  to  "Adversity."  The  best 
known  are  those  on  "Riches,"  "Studies,"  "Great  Place," 
and  "Ambition."  Everywhere  Bacon  reveals  the  extent 
of  his  reading  and  the  astuteness  of  his  observation  of  men 
and  affairs.  In  this  work  we  find  for  the  first  time  a  clear, 
concise  prose  style  that  catches  the  modern  spirit  of  the 
language.  It  is  the  earliest  prose  work  in  English  that  is 
widely  read  as  a  classic  to-day. 

Bacon's  later  works  are  more  profound,  and  appeal  espe- 
cially to  the  scholar  and  the  philosopher.  His  Advancement 
of  Learning  (1605)  has  been  highly  praised  as  [a  land- 
mark in  English  philosophy  and  contains  much  excellent 
writing.  Not  being  altogether  certain  of  the  future  im- 
portance of  the  English  language  as  a  medium  for  scholarly 
work,  Bacon  wrote  his  most  important  philosophical  treatise, 
Novum  Organum  (1620)  in  Latin.  It  dealt  with  the  meth- 
ods of  investigating  knowledge  and  exerted  considerable 
influence  on  the  development  of  modern  science.  Bacon's 
last  important  work.  The  History  of  Henry  VII  (1622), 
was  written  in  English  and  is  still  valuable  because  he  had 
access  to  sources  that  have  since  been  lost. 

In  intellectual  power  Bacon  stood  second  to  Shakespeare 
alone  among  the  great  Elizabethans.  Within  recent  times 
certain  misguided  persons  have  sought  to  prove  that  Bacon 
wrote  the  plays  of  Shakespeare,  but  scholars  who  have 
studied  the  works  of  both  writers  most  intently  can  readily 
distinguish  the  product  of  the  cold,  analytical  intellect  of 


106  THE  ELIZABETHAN  AGE 

England's  first  great  philosopher  from  the  sympathetic, 
emotional  utterance  of  the  greatest  of  all  poets.  Bacon's 
Essays  were  written  by  a  well-trained,  well-read  scholar; 
Shakespeare's  plays  were  written  by  one  who  knew  little 
Latin  and  less  Greek,  but  far  more  about  the  human  heart 
and  the  great  world  of  nature. 

6.  Elizabethan  Songs  and  Translations.  With  the  pub- 
lication of  TotteVs  Miscellany  (1557)  began  an  epoch  of 
lyrical  poetry  such  as  England  had  never  known  before. 
The  age  seemed  surcharged  with  emotion  and  naturally 
expressed  itself  in  song.  The  sonnet  was  especially  popular, 
but  other  lyrical  forms  were  practiced  with  great  skill. 
Most  of  the  poets  wrote  of  love,  and  some  of  them  composed 
long  sequences  of  sonnets  to  a  real  or  imaginary  sweet- 
heart. Usually  the  lady  was  addressed  as  Ceha,  Diana, 
Phillis,  Delia,  or  some  other  fanciful  name.  Printers 
brought  out  collections  of  songs  by  various  hands,  often 
giving  the  books  fantastic  titles,  such  as  A  Handful  of 
Pleasant  Delights,  The  Gorgeous  Gallery  of  Gallant  Inven- 
tions, or  The  Paradise  of  Dainty  Devices.  Every  one  seemed 
to  have  the  gift  of  song.  Writers  of  romances  and  plays 
introduced  the  most  charming  lyrics  into  their  works. 
England  was  spoken  of  as  a  "nest  of  singing  birds"  and 
well  deserved  the  name.  Narrative  poems  of  greater 
length  were  also  undertaken  by  many  of  the  writers.  Michael 
Drayton  (1563-1631),  who  is  best  remembered  for  his 
ringing  ballad,  The  Battle  of  Agincourt,  devoted  long  years 
to  a  vast  poem  of  30,000  lines  called  Polyolbion,  which  is 
virtually  a  detailed  geographical  description  of  Britain. 
Christopher  Marlowe,  better  known  as  a  dramatist,  com- 
posed a  beautiful  poetic  fragment.  Hero  and  Leander, 
which  was  later  finished  by  a  fellow-dramatist,  George 
Chapman.  A  more  extensive  undertaking  by  Chapman 
was  his  translation  of  Homer,  which  was  popular  for  many 
years  and  was  the  form  in  which  Keats  made  his  acquaint- 
ance with  the  great  epic  poet  of  ancient  Greece. 


EDMUND  SPENSER 


107 


EDMUND   SPENSER  (1552-1599) 

7.  Life  and  Works.  The  greatest  nondramatic  poet  of 
the  age  was  Edmund  Spenser,  whose  work  is  of  such  super- 
lative merit  as  to  rank  him  with  Chaucer  and  Milton. 
Little  is  known  of  his  parentage  or  early  Hfe.  He  was  born 
in  East  Smithfield,  London,  near  the  Tower,  and  attended 
the    Merchant   Tailors'    SchooL    Later   he    continued   his 

education  at  Cambridge      

as  'a  sizar,  or  poor 
student  who  had  to 
perform  menial  duties  in 
exchange  for  his  train- 
ing. After  leaving 
Cambridge  in  1576  he 
visited  the  north  of 
England,  where  he  fell 
in  love  but  failed  to  win 
the  heart  of  a  woman 
whom  he  mentions  in 
his  poetry  as  Rosalind. 
When  he  returned  to 
London  he  brought 
back  with  him  the 
manuscript    of    poems 

that  [he  had  written.  His  Shepherd^s  Calendar  (1579) 
attracted  the  attention  of  Sidney  and  others;  before  long 
Spenser  was  welcomed  into  the  group  of  the  courtly 
poets.  In  1580  Lord  Leicester  secured  for  Spenser  a  posi- 
tion as  secretary  to  Lord  Grey,  the  Queen's  deputy  in 
Ireland.  A  rebellion  broke  out  that  had  to  be  put  down 
with  much  brutality.  The  estates  of  the  Irish  leaders  were 
confiscated  and  turned  over  to  the  representatives  of  the 
government.  Spenser  received  a  large  grant  of  three 
thousand    acres,    including    Kilcolman    Castle,    which    had 


Edmund  Spenser 


108  THE  ELIZABETHAN  AGE 

been  the  property  of  the  Earl  of  Desmond.  As  he  was 
compelled  to  reside  on  the  estate,  Spenser  soon  came  to 
regard  himself  as  an  exile.  Amid  the  lovely  surroundings 
of  Kilcolman  Spenser  finished  the  first  three  books  of  his 
masterpiece,  The  Faerie  Queene.  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  who 
had  received  extensive  grants  of  Irish  property,  visited 
Spenser  in  1589  and  was  most  enthusiastic  when  he  heard 
the  new  poem.  Spenser  visited  London  and  was  presented 
to  Queen  Elizabeth.  His  three  books  of  The  Faerie  Queene 
were  published  in  1590  and  were  received  with  the  greatest 
acclaim.  After  his  return  to  Ireland  Spenser  fell  in  love 
with  an  Irish  girl  whose  name  appears  to  have  been  EHzabeth 
Boyle,  and  he  furthered  his  suit  by  writing  a  series  of  son- 
nets ,  called  Amoretti.  In  1594  he  married  his  Elizabeth, 
celebrating  the  occasion  of  his  wedding  with  a  beautiful 
poem  entitled  Epithalamion.  During  the  following  years 
he  continued  to  work  on  The  Faerie  Queene  and  published 
three  more  books  of  that  poem  in  1596.  Another  visit  to 
London  about  that  time  probably  brought  Spenser  into 
personal  touch  with  Shakespeare,  Bacon,  and  Ben  Jonson, 
who  were  then  coming  into  prominence.  During  this 
period  he  wrote  his  only  prose  work,  A  View  of  the  State  of 
Irelandy  which,  however,  was  not  published  until  1633. 
In  it  Spenser  recommended  that  harsh  measures  be  taken 
to  keep  the  Irish  in  subjection.  Not  long  after  this  work  in 
manuscript  had  been  accepted  in  London  as  a  reasonable 
plan  for  solving  the  Irish  problem,  Tyrone's  Rebellion  broke 
out  and  Kilcolman  Castle  was  one  of  the  first  places  to  be 
set  on  fire  by  the  rebels.  Spenser  with  his  wife  and  two  chil- 
dren barely  escaped.  He  never  recovered  from  the  terrible 
experience.  Making  his  way  back  to  England,  he  died  in  1599 
at  Westminster,  apparently  in  great  want.  He  was  buried 
near  Chaucer  in  the  Poets'  Corner  of  Westminster  Abbey. 

8.  The  Shepherd's  Calendar.     With  the  appearance  of 
The  Shepherd's  Calendar  dates  the  most  important  English 


THE  FAERIE  QUEENE  109 

poetry  since  the  death  of  Chaucer.  The  work  consisted  of 
twelve  eclogues,  or  pastorals,  one  for  each  month  of  the 
year.  For  the  most  part  they  were  discussions  of  nature, 
country  life,  and  love,  modeled  upon  classical  examples  in 
Virgil  and  Theocritus,  with  shepherds  and  shepherdesses 
as  the  principal  speakers.  A  variety  of  meters  was  used  in 
the  various  poems,  and  even  here  Spenser  showed  his  fond- 
ness for  archaic  or  old-fashioned  words,  such  as  were  later 
used  so  extensively  in  The  Faerie  Queene.  Although  inferior 
to  Spenser's  great  masterpiece  and  likewise  to  the  best  of 
his  Amoretti,  The  Shepherd's  Calendar  should  be  remembered 
as  the  first  pastoral  poem  in  our  language. 

9.  The  Faerie  Queene.  Spenser's  plan  for  The  Faerie 
Queene  was  one  of  the  most  elaborate  in  all  literature.  There 
were  to  be  twenty-four  books,  as  in  the  great  epics  of  Greece, 
the  Iliad  and  the  Odyssey.  These  books  were  each  to  con- 
sist of  twelve  cantos,  and  each  canto  was  planned  to  contain 
about  fifty  of  the  nine-line  stanzas.  Twelve  books  were  to 
be  devoted  to  the  twelve  private  virtues  and  twelve  more 
to  the  public  virtues.  The  central  hero  of  the  plan  was 
Prince  Arthur,  who  typified  the  ideal  ruler,  the  embodiment 
of  all  the  virtues.  In  each  book  a  knight  representing 
the  corresponding  virtue  waged  battle  against  certain 
evils.  After  all  the  knights  had  successfully  accomplished 
their  many  adventures,  the  poem  was  to  have  culminated 
in  the  marriage  of  Prince  Arthur  with  Gloriana,  the  Faerie 
Queene.  Inasmuch  as  Spenser  wrote  only  six  books,  apart 
from  a  short  fragment  of  a  seventh  book,  it  is  evident  that 
his  vast  plan  was  only  one-fourth  complete  at  the  time  of 
his  death,  yet  it  extends  to  a  total  of  over  thirty  thousand 
lines.  The  first  book  (Hohness)  deals  with  the  adventures 
of  the  Red  Cross  Knight;  the  second  (Temperance)  has 
Sir  Guy  on  for  its  hero;  the  third  (Chastity)  tells  the  legend 
of  the  female  hero  Britomartis;  the  fourth  (Friendship) 
tells  of  Cambel  and  Triamond;    the  fifth  (Justice)  is  the 


110  THE  ELIZABETHAN  AGE 

legend  of  Artegal;  the  sixth  (Courtesy)  presents  the  ad- 
ventures of  Sir  Calidore.  It  was  probably  Spenser's  inten- 
tion to  devote  the  seventh  book  to  Constancy,  but  only 
two  beautiful  cantos  were  finished.  There  is  a  rumor  that 
six  more  books  of  the  poem  had  been  written  and  were  de- 
stroyed when  the  Irish  sacked  Kilcolman  Castle,  but  there 
is  no  evidence  to  confirm  that  report. 

10.  Significance  of  the  Faerie  Queene.  It  is  impossible 
to  give  any  summary  of  the  wealth  of  incident  and  romantic 
adventure  that  Spenser  crowded  into  the  pages  of  his  great 
poem.  Monsters,  giants,  nymphs,  fauns,  magicians,  sirens 
—  in  short,  all  sorts  of  creatures  are  associated  with  the  ex- 
periences of  the  beautiful  ladies  and  the  chivalrous  knights. 
There  is  a  double  and  occasionally  a  triple  system  of  allegory 
in  the  poem.  At  times  the  allegory  is  quite  clear;  again,  it 
may  be  most  confusing.  A  full  understanding  of  the  allu- 
sions is  not  necessary,  however,  to  the  enjoyment  of  the 
poem  and  an  appreciation  of  the  remarkable  imaginative 
power  that  made  such  a  plan  possible.  It  is  well  to  know 
that  Gloriana,  the  Faerie  Queene,  is  none  other  than  Eliza- 
beth herself;  that  the  false  Duessa  is  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots; 
that  Prince  Arthur  is  Lord  Leicester;  and  that  Sir  Calidore 
is  Sir  Philip  Sidney.  In  fact,  good  friends  like  Sidney  and 
Raleigh  were  represented  in  different  characters  of  the 
poem.  Doubtless  many  of  the  personifications  were  quite 
clear  in  Spenser's  own  day,  but  are  not  so  readily  under- 
stood now. 

For  this  poem  Spenser  devised  a  new  meter,  peculiarly 
his  own,  and  successfully  imitated  by  Thomson,  Byron, 
Keats,  and  other  later  poets.  The  Spenserian  meter  con- 
sists of  a  stanza  of  nine  lines,  in  which  the  first  eight  have 
five  iambic  feet,  while  the  ninth  line  has  six.  The  evident 
intention  of  the  poet  was  to  avoid  monotony  by  this  device. 
The  lines  rhymed  ababbcbcc,  and  may  be  illustrated  by 
the  following  typical  stanza  describing  the  Cave  of  Mammon: 


EDMUND  SPENSER  111 

At  last  he  came  unto  a  gloomy  glade, 

Cover'd  with  boughes  and  shrubs  from  heavens  light. 

Whereas  he  sitting  found  in  secret  shade 

An  uncouth,  salvage,  and  uncivile  wight. 

Of  griesly  hew  and  fowle  ill  favour'd  sight. 

His  face  with  smoke  was  tand,  and  eies  were  bleard. 

His  head  and  beard  with  sout  were  ill  bedight, 

His  cole-blacke  hands  did  seeme  to  have  been  seard 

In  smythes  fire-spitting  forge,  and  nayles  like  clawes  appeard. 

11.  Spenser's  Language.  In  the  stanza  just  quoted 
we  find  a  number  of  unusual  words,  as  well  as  familiar 
words  in  unusual  spelling,  yet  apart  from  these,  the  lan- 
guage is  readily  understood  to-day.  Spenser  was  fond  of 
digging  up  old  words  or  obsolete  forms,  such  as  disleal, 
eyne,  gmi,  maugre,  nathless,  woxen,  etc.,  to  give  a  certain 
archaic  flavor  to  his  lines,  but  in  form  his  language  is  not 
far  removed  from  that  which  might  be  used  by  a  modem 
poet  in  similar  imaginative  writing.  When  the  demands 
of  meter  or  of  rhyme  were  imperative,  Spenser  did  not 
hesitate  to  change  words  or  to  invent  new  ones  to  meet 
his  need. 

12.  Characteristics  of  Spenser.  Few  critics  would  deny 
Spenser  his  place  among  the  greatest  of  English  poets.  When 
we  become  familiar  with  his  best  work  w^e  can  readily  under- 
stand why  he  is  called  the  "poet's  poet"  and  why  he  exerted 
so  strong  an  influence  on  Wordsworth,  Byron,  Shelley,  and 
Keats.  There  is  exquisite  melody  in  his  verse,  if  it  is  read 
properly,  and  there  is  a  keen  sense  of  the  beautiful  in  his 
contemplation  of  human  life  as  well  as  of  nature.  No 
doubt  many  modern  readers  would  be  wearied  by  the  length 
of  The  Faerie  Queene,  or  would  become  confused  in  the 
complication  of  its  allegory  if  they  attempted  to  follow  it 
carefully,  but  no  true  lover  of  poetry  can  fail  to  catch  the 
spirit  of  Spenser's  genius  if  he  chooses  to  read  anywhere 
at  random  in  his  pages.  What  would  probably  impress 
him  most  is  the  glorious  ideal  presented  in  his  fine  concep- 


112  THE  ELIZABETHAN  AGE 

tion  of  his   masterpiece,  which  reflects  a  nobility  of  soul 
that  only  a  few  of  the  more  inspired  poets  have  attained. 

THE   ENGLISH   DRAMA 

13.  Beginnings  of  the  Drama.  Although  some  religious 
people  nowadays  qxpress  their  strong  disapproval  of  the 
theater  as  an  institution  in  our  social  life,  it  is  interesting 
to  note  that  the  English  drama  began  in  the  Church,  and 
particularly  in  association  with  two  of  its  holiest  days. 
The  festivals  of  Christmas  and  Easter  in  the  Middle  Ages 
first  suggested  the  use  of  pantomime  and  of  spoken  dialogue 
to  enforce  upon  the  imagination  of  the  unlearned  wor- 
shipers the  significance  of  those  sacred  occasions.  Thus 
the  primary  intention  was  to  instruct  and  uplift  the  spec- 
tator. From  representations  of  incidents  connected  with 
the  Nativity,  the  Crucifixion,  and  the  Resurrection,  it  was 
but  a  step  to  the  enactment  of  scenes  in  the  life  of  Christ 
and  to  the  presentation  in  dramatic  form  of  the  popular 
stories  in  the  Old  Testament.  Soon  every  significant 
story  in  Holy  Writ  and  many  of  the  tales  and  legends  asso- 
ciated with  the  lives  of  the  saints  had  been  cast  into  dramatic 
form  for  presentation  either  within  or  outside  the  church. 

14.  The  Miracle  Plays.  In  France,  where  the  early 
religious  drama  was  well  developed,  a  distinction  was  made 
between  a  Miracle  Play,  which  represents  incidents  in  the 
life  of  a  saint,  and  a  Mystery  Play,  which  deals  with  events 
connected  with  the  life  of  Christ  or  with  any  Old  Testament 
story  that  foreshadows  His  coming.  In  England,  however, 
there  were  few  genuine  miracle  plays,  and  that  term  is  now 
applied  broadly  to  include  all  plays  that  concern  any  Biblical 
character  in  the  Old  or  the  New  Testament,  as  well  as 
saints  not  mentioned  in  the  Bible. 

The  earliest  miracle  play  of  record  in  England  is  one 
relating  the  life  of  St.  Katharine,  performed  at  Dunstable 
in  the  year  1110.     Such  plays  were  especially  popular  dur- 


THE  ENGLISH  DRAMA 


113 


ing  the  fourteenth,  fifteenth,  and  early  sixteenth  centuries, 
but  were  dying  out  in  the  period  of  Shakespeare's  boyhood. 
They  attracted  such  large  audiences  in  their  early  history 
that  it  was  soon  impracticable  to  give  the  representation 
within  the  church.  The  spectacle  was  accordingly  removed 
to  the  church-yard,  and  when  the  crowds  grew  too  large 
there,  the  performances  were  given  in  the  open  town  squares 
or  market-places  throughout  England. 

15.  The  Miracle  Cycles.  From  the  presentation  of 
separate  plays,  taken  here  and  there  from  the  Bible,  it  was 
but  a  logical  step  to 
the  orderly  performance 
of  an  entire  series  of 
plays  telling  the  whole 
Bible  story  from  the 
Creation  to  the  Day  of 
Judgment.  These 
cycles,  as  they  were 
called,  became  very 
popular,  and  each  im- 
portant town  or  district 
developed  its  own 
group  for  local  presen- 
tation. Usually  the 
entire  cycle  was  pro- 
duced every  spring   in 

a  series  of  performances  beginning  on  Corpus  Christi  Day. 
Most  of  those  cycles  have  disappeared,  but  there  are  a  few  that 
have  come  down  to  us,  and  they  give  a  good  idea  of  the  wide- 
spread vogue  of  the  religious  drama.  The  four  cycles  in 
question  are  the  York,  the  Chester,  the  Coventry,  and  the 
Towneley  (or  Wakefield)  Plays.  The  York  Cycle  includes 
forty-eight  plays  and  is  generally  regarded  as  the  most 
representative  of  all.  The  Chester  Cycle  has  twenty-five 
plays  of  unequal  merit,  for  the  most  part  inferior  to  the 


York  Minster 


114  THE  ELIZABETHAN  AGE 

other  cycles.  The  Coventry  Cycle  of  forty-two  plays  lays 
greater  stress  on  the  New  Testament  and  belongs  to  a  later 
period  than  the  rest.  The  Towneley  Cycle  of  thirty  plays 
includes  many  stories  of  the  Old  Testament,  as  well  as  the 
popular  Second  Shepherds'  Play,  which  is  a  remarkable 
example  of  early  comic  drama.  Most  of  these  plays  in  their 
existing  form  date  from  the  latter  half  of  the  fifteenth 
century. 

16.  Presentation  of  Plays.  When  the  miracle  plays 
were  first  given  in  their  simplicity  in  the  church  or  the 
church-yard,  the  parts  in  the  drama  were  assumed  by  the 
priests  or  their  assistants.  Later,  when  the  plays  became 
more  popular,  their  performance  was  intrusted  to  the 
various  trade-guilds  of  the  tow^n  or  district.  There  was 
considerable  rivalry  among  the  guilds,  as  each  one  wished 
the  performance  of  its  particular  play  to  surpass  the  others. 
Money  was  lavished  on  costumes  and  properties  that  were 
needed  in  the  presentation.  Among  the  surviving  records 
of  expenses  we  find  such  quaint  items  as  these: 

Paid  for  a  pair  of  gloves  for  God 2d. 

Paid  for  four  pair  of  angels'  wings 2  s.  8  d. 

Paid  for  a  pair  of  new  hose  and  mending  of  the 

old  for  the  white  souls 18  d. 

idid  for  a  pound  of  hemp  to  mend  the  angels' 

heads 4  d. 

I'aid  for  washing  the  lawn  bands  for  the  Saints 

in  the  church 2d. 

Yo  Fawston  for  hanging  Judas 4  d. 

To  Fawston  for  cock-crowing 10  d. 

Those  who  distributed  the  various  plays  among  the  guilds 
were  not  wanting  in  humor,  as  they  gave  the  Fall  of  Lucifer 
to  the  tanners,  the  story  of  Noah  and  the  building  of  the 
ark  to  the  shipwrights,  the  Last  Supper  to  the  bakers,  and 
the  Crucifixion  to  the  butchers.  The  performances  were 
given  on  wooden  platforms  mounted  on  wheels.     The  space 


THE  ENGLISH  DRAMA 


115 


beneath  the  platform  could  be  draped  and  used  as  a  dressing 
room  by  the  actors.  As. soon  as  the  play  was  over,  the 
platform  was  drawn  away  and  a  new  platform,  properly 
set  for  the  next  play  in  the  cycle,  was  brought  up.  Mean- 
while the  first  play  was  performed  again  in  another  open 
space,  where  another  audience  had  been  waiting  for  it. 


A  Miracle  Play  at  Coventry 


17.  The  Coniic  Element.  When  the  miracle  plays  passed 
from  the  hands  of  the  priests  to  the  trade-guilds,  there  crept 
in  humorous  details  that  were  not  in  Holy  Writ.  The 
crowds  that  assembled  to  witness  the  si>ectacles  wanted 
to  be  entertained,  and  the  actors  soon  found  out  what  pleased 
the  audience  most.  We  must  therefore  not  be  surprised 
to  find  much  horse-play  and  low  comedy  in  the  public 
performances  of  the  Bible  stories.     Thus  the  play  of  Cain 


116  THE  ELIZABETHAN  AGE 

and  Abel  is  enlivened  by  a  saucy  plow-boy  who  pokes 
fun  at  Cain  and  engages  in  rough  tussling  with  him.  In 
the  story  of  the  Flood  we  find  Noah*s  wife  represented  as  a 
talkative  shrew  who  refuses  to  enter  the  ark,  because  she 
prefers  to  gossip  and  drink  ale  with  her  neighbors.  Finally 
she  is  dragged  in,  kicking  and  shrieking,  by  her  disgusted 
sons,  and  Noah  greets  her  with  the  words 
*'  Welckome,  wife,  into  this  bote!  '* 

whereupon  she  cuffs  him  on  the  ear  and  exclaims 
"  Have  that  for  thy  note!  " 

Noah    realizes  his  mistake  as  he  rubs  his  ear  and    says 

sadly: 

*'  Ha,  ha!  Marye,  this  is  hotte! 
It  is  good  for  to  be  stille." 

18.  The  Second  Shepherds*  Play.  One  of  the  most 
charming  of  all  the  miracle  pieces  is  the  Second  Shepherds' 
Play  of  the  Towneley  Cycle.  The  shepherds  are  watching 
their  flocks  on  the  eve  of  the  Nativity.  They  are  joined 
by  a  yeoman  named  Mak,  whom  they  regard  with  some 
suspicion,  as  he  has  the  reputation  of  being  a  sheep-stealer. 
When  they  lie  down  to  sleep  they  compel  Mak  to  lie  between 
two  of  them  for  the  security  of  their  flocks.  As  soon  as 
they  are  all  snoring,  Mak  rises  cautiously,  steals  a  sheep 
and  hastens  home  with  it.  He  shows  his  booty  to  his  wife, 
who  fears  the  bleating  of  the  sheep  if  their  house  should 
be  searched.  She  suggests  that  they  should  put  the  sheep 
into  the  cradle  and  cover  it  with  clothes.  If  the  searchers 
come  into  the  house,  she  will  warn  them  away  from  the 
cradle  so  that  they  may  not  waken  the  baby.  Thereupon 
Mak  hastens  back  to  the  sleeping  shepherds  and  resumes 
his  place  between  them.  When  they  awake  and  find  Mak 
still  asleep,  they  rouse  him.  He  reminds  them  that  he  has 
not  stolen  any  of  their  sheep  and  departs  for  his  home.    As 


THE  ENGLISH  DRAMA  117 

soon  as  one  of  the  shepherds  discovers  their  loss  suspicion 
falls  on  Mak  in  spite  of  his  innocent  departure.  They  go 
to  his  house  and  search  everywhere.  Mak  implores  them 
to  have  some  regard  for  his  sick  wife  and  for  her  baby  in 
the  cradle  nearby.  The  shepherds  are  about  to  depart, 
convinced  that  they  have  wronged  poor  Mak,  when  they 
decide  to  make  amends  by  giving  him  a  sixpence  for  the 
baby.  Disregarding  Mak's  objections,  one  of  the  shepherds 
insists  on  seeing  the  baby. 

"  Gyf  me  lefe  hym  to  kys,  and  lyft  up  the  elowtt. 
What  the  devill  is  this?     He  has  a  long  snowte!'* 

In  spite  of  the  protests  of  Mak  and  his  wife  that  the  sheep 
is  a  changeling  for  the  baby  they  laid  in  the  cradle,  the 
shepherds  are  now  convinced  of  his  guilt  and  toss  him  in  a 
sheet  till  they  are  quite  exhausted.  Thereupon  an  angel's 
voice  sings  Gloria  in  excelsis  and  bids  them  go  to  Bethlehem 
to  see  the  Babe  lying  in  the  manger.  The  shepherds  obey 
the  celestial  voice  and  the  play  ends  with  their  devotion 
at  the  cradle  of  the  Infant  Chrjst. 
V  19.  The  Morality  Play.  In  the  next  stage  of  dramatic 
development  we  find  a  type  of  play  in  which  the  characters 
are  not  human  beings,  but  personified  abstractions  such  as 
Faith,  Charity,  Truth,  Gluttony,  Avarice,  and  numerous 
others  who  embody  the  virtues  or  vices  that  they  represent. 
Such  plays  probably  began  in  the  period  when  allegory  was 
popular  in  poetic  literature.  Poems  like  Piers  Plowman, 
Romaunt  of  the  Rose^  or  The  Hous  of  Fame  were  certain  to 
suggest  the  dramatic  possibilities  in  tales  of  contending 
human  traits.  The  morality  play  represented  a  distinct 
advance  over  the  miracle  play  in  one  respect,  because  the 
writer  did  not  find  his  story  ready  made,  but  had  to  use 
his  imagination  in  shaping  the  action.  Unfortunately, 
most  of  the  moralities  were  written  by  men  who  were  over- 
anxious to  enforce  a  lesson  and  who  therefore  made  their 


118  THE  ELIZABETHAN  AGE 

work  insufferably  dull  by  preaching  to  their  audiences 
instead  of  entertaining  them.  Some  of  the  writers  sought  to 
enhven  matters  by  introducing  a  new  character  called  the 
Vice,  who  developed  into  the  clown  or  fool  in  later  drama. 
It  was  his  duty  to  play  tricks  on  the  virtues  and  also  to 
annoy  the  Devil  by  beating  or  prodding  him  with  a  wooden 
sword.  Again  and  again  the  Devil  would  prance  about 
Hell-Mouth,  which  was  usually  represented  on  one  side  of 
the  stage  as  a  hideous  dragon's  head  with  distended  jaws. 
From  within  came  red  fire  and  smoke,  while  at  the  portals 
were  numerous  noisy  imps  attending  the  archfiend.  In 
the  end,  when  the  virtues  triumphed,  the  Devil  disappeared 
into  the  flaming  Hell-Mouth  with  the  Vice  on  his  back. 

Among  the  best  morality  plays  were  Hyckescorner,  in 
which  Imagination  and  Free- Will  show  the  path  to  Irre- 
ligion;  The  Castell  of  Perseverance,  which  depicts  man  as 
shut  in  a  castle  defended  by  the  virtues  against  a  besieging 
army  of  the  vices  —  an  idea  similar  to  that  used  by  John 
Bunyan  in  The  Holy  War;  and,  best  of  all,  Everyman,  a 
morality  that  deserves  to  be  ranked  among  the  master- 
pieces of  religious  drama. 

20.  Ever3rman.  The  hero,  Everyman,  a  gay,  care-free 
young  fellow,  is  suddenly  summoned  by  a  weird  visitant. 
Death,  who  bids  him  prepare  for  the  inevitable  pilgrimage 
and  to  bring  along  the  record  of  his  life.  Everyman  pleads 
that  he  is  not  ready  for  the  journey,  that  Death  has  come 
when  least  expected;  he  offers  Death  a  bribe  of  a  thousand 
pounds.  Death  scoffs  at  the  offer;  he  gives  no  respite  to 
pope  or  emperor,  and  he  will  not  spare  Everyman.  Tears 
and  entreaty  are  of  no  avail;  Everyman  gets  only  a  brief 
delay  in  which  to  get  his  friends  to  accompany  him.  He 
turns  to  his  companion  Fellowship,  who  has  always  pro- 
fessed his  warm  regard,  but  when  Fellowship  learns  of 
Everyman's  plight  he  makes  off  at  the  first  opportunity. 
Everyman  then  appeals  to  Kindred  and  to  Goods  (Wealth) 


THE  ENGLISH  DRAMA  119 

to  accompany  him  on  the  way,  but  both  declare  they  cannot 
go.  Everyman  reaUzes  that  all  these  are  false  friends  indeed 
in  the  hour  of  trial.  He  turns  to  one  whom  he  had  long 
neglected  —  Good  Deeds  —  but,  alas.  Good  Deeds  lies  weak 
and  helpless  on  the  ground.  Everyman  next  appeals  to 
Knowledge,  who  is  willing  to  go  along  and  be  his  guide. 
Knowledge  leads  him  to  Confession;  by  his  sincere  repent- 
ance he  has  delivered  Good  Deeds  from  sickness  and  thus 
has  another  friend  to  stand  at  his  side.    They  call  in  others 


Photo.  Byron,  N.  Y. 

A  Character  Group  in  "Everyman" 

—  Discretion,  Strength,  Beauty,  and  Five  Wits  —  who  at 
first  agree  to  go  along,  but  when  they  learn  that  Everyman 
is  going  to  the  Grave,  they  quickly  depart.  Poor  Every- 
man cries  out  in  terror  that  he  is  forsaken,  but  Good  Deeds 
and  Knowledge  stay  with  him  till  the  end,  as  he  commends 
his  soul  to  Heaven. 

21.  Interludes.  A  third  stage  in  the  development  of 
the  English  drama  reveals  a  type  of  short  play  or  diverting 
entertainment  called  the  Interlude,  which  was  presented  in 
connection  with  a  banquet  or  other  important  festivity. 


120  THE  ELIZABETHAN  AGE 

Dancing  and  music  were  associated  with  the  kind  of  diver- 
sion arranged  by  writers  like  William  Cornish  (died  1523) 
and  John  Heywood  (1497P-1580?)  during  the  reign  of  Henry 
VIII.  Recent  critics  are  inclined  to  attribute  to  Cornish 
certain  interludes  that  were  formerly  regarded  as  the  work 
of  Heywood.  Among  the  best  of  these  is  The  Four  P'sy 
which  is  a  contest  of  wit  engaged  in  by  a  Pardoner,  a  Palmer, 
a  Pedlar,  and  a  Poticary.  In  the  course  of  their  talk  an 
argument  arises  whether  the  Pardoner  or  the  Palmer  is 
the  bigger  liar.  The  Pedlar  suggests  a  lying  contest  be- 
tween the  two  and  agrees  to  act  as  judge.  The  Pardoner 
tells  of  a  trip  to  Purgatory  to  secure  the  release  of  a  woman 
whom  he  had  known.  The  Devil  agrees  to  give  her  up, 
because  two  women  give  him  more  trouble  than  aU  the  rest 
of  his  charges.  The  Palmer  pretends  to  be  very  much  sur- 
prised at  this  reflection  upon  women.  He  declares  that  he 
had  seen  fully  five  hundred  thousand  women  in  his  travels. 

Yet  in  all  places  where  I  have  been, 
Of  all  the  women  that  I  have  seen, 
I  never  saw  or  knew  in  my  conscience 
Any  one  woman  out  of  patience. 

Thereupon  the  Poticary  cries  out,  "By  the  Mass,  there  is 
a  great  lie! "  The  Pardoner  admits  he  never  heard  a  greater, 
and  the  Pedlar  then  decides  in  favor  of  the  Palmer  as  the 
more  accomplished  liar. 

22.  The  First  Plays.  The  first  dramatic  composition 
that  closely  approximated  the  later  form  of  English  plays 
was  a  comedy  called  Ralph  Roister  Doister,  written  before 
1541  by  Nicholas  Udall  (1505-1556).  Udall  was  a  master 
at  Eton  College  and  evidently  wrote  his  play  to  be  acted 
by  the  Eton  students.  It  is  founded  on  a  Latin  comedy 
by  Plautus,  and  deals  with  the  adventures  of  a  silly  fellow 
who  has  fallen  in  love  with  a  widow.  She  is  betrothed  to 
another  and  makes  Ralph  the  victim  of  her  jokes.      The 


THE  ENGLISH  DRAMA 


121 


second  English  comedy  was  Gammer  Gurtoris  Needle  (1552?), 
which  was  acted  at  Christ  College,  Cambridge,  and  is  now 
regarded  as  the  work  of  William  Stevenson,  of  whom  little  is 
known.  Its  characters  are  drawn  from  the  lower  classes, 
and  its  situations  and  language  are  rather  coarse.  The 
first  tragedy  was  Garbudoc,  written  in  blank  verse  by  Thomas 
Sackville  (1536-1608)  and  acted  in  1561.  It  followed  the 
models  of  the  classical  Greek  drama  and  was  a  very  dull 
affair.  The  classical  unities,  as  they  were  called,  demanded 
that  the  action  of  the  play  be  confined  within  the  space  of 
twenty-four  hours,  that  there  be  no  change  of  scene,  and 
that  only  one  main  plot  be  developed  in  the  play.  If  Shake- 
speare and  his  fellow-dramatists  had  permitted  themselves 
to  be  hampered  by  the  first  two  rules  just  mentioned,  the 
record  achieved  by  the  Eliza- 
bethan drama  would  have  been 
far  less  brilliant. 

23.  The  Theaters  and  the 
Actors.  After  the  period  when 
performances  of  miracle  plays 
in  public  squares  were  com- 
mon and  before  the  period  of 
regular  theaters,  plays  were 
usually  performed  in  the  court- 
yards of  inns  situated  in 
London  and  in  other  towns. 
A  low  stage  was  erected  at 
one  end  of  the  yard,  and  the 
open  space  in  front  served  for 
that  part  of  the  audience  that  stood  during  the  performance. 
This  space  corresponded  to  the  pit  in  English  theaters  or 
the  orchestra  in  American  play-houses.  The  two  or  three 
tiers  of  balconies  that  ran  around  the  inn-yard  at  the  differ- 
ent floors  of  the  inn  gave  the  guests  who  occupied  the  upper 
rooms  (and  other  persons  who  paid  for  the  privilege)  a  chance 


a  I 


Interior  of  the  Swan  Theater 


122  THE  ELIZABETHAN  AGE 

to  witness  the  play  from  a  better  location.  These  tiers 
gave  the  suggestion  for  the  balconies  and  galleries  that  were 
later  incorporated  in  the  regularly  built  theaters.  The 
first  building  especially  designed  for  dramatic  representation 
was  erected  in  London  in  1576  and  was  known  as  The 
Theater.  Among  the  other  theaters  of  London  built  during 
the  lifetime  of  Shakespeare  were  the  Curtain,  the  Rose, 
the  Swan,  and  the  Hope.  The  most  famous  of  all  were  the 
Blackfriars  and  the  Globe,  because  they  were  controlled  by 
the  companies  in  which  Shakespeare  had  an  interest,  and 
in  them  the  best  of  his  mature  plays  were  first  performed. 

Most  of  the  theaters  were  octagonal  or  round  in  shape, 
although  the  Fortune  was  square.  There  was  no  roof  over 
the  central  part  of  the  building,  so  that  the  audience  in  the 
pit  was  exposed  to  the  inconvenience  of  inclement  weather. 
Those  who  had  paid  a  penny  to  stand  there  were  referred 
to  as  the  "groundlings,"  and  much  of  the  buffoonery  and 
horse-play  was  intended  for  their  special  benefit.  Per- 
formances in  the  public  theaters  began  at  two  or  three 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  and  lasted  from  two  to  three  hours. 
Private  theaters,  of  which  there  were  very  few,  were  per- 
mitted to  give  performances  at  night,  but  Elizabethan 
England  did  not  generally  approve  venturing  abroad  after 
nightfall.  There  was  no  curtain  in  front  of  the  stage  as  in 
a  modern  play-house,  because  there  were  no  scenes  to  be 
shifted.  A  few  properties,  such  as  thrones,  tr^e-stumps, 
chairs,  tables,  and  beds  were  enough  to  serve  their  purpose. 
The  intensely  imaginative  mind  of  the  Eliazbethan  created 
its  own  scenic  setting  for  the  glorious  poetry  of  Shakespeare 
and  his  fellow-dramatists.  Perhaps  they  were  more  suc- 
cessful in  creating  an  illusion  than  we  are  in  these  later 
days  of  elaborate  stage-carpentry  and  remarkable  lighting 
effects.  The  actors  took  special  pride  in  their  costumes 
and  "make-up."  Records  show  that  large  sums  were 
spent  for  costly  fabrics,  shoes,  wigs,  and  similar  fittings  of 


THE  ENGLISH  DRAMA  123 

the  actor.  All  the  parts  were  assumed  by  men  and  boys. 
No  women  appeared  on  the  stage  prior  to  1660.  The  lack 
was  not  generally  felt,  because  the  boys  who  took  feminine 
roles  were  well  trained,  and  the  boy-companies  of  Shake- 
speare's day  even  became  dangerous  rivals  of  the  more 
mature  players. 

We  must  remember  that  Elizabethan  England  had  no 
newspapers,  no  magazines,  and  no  popular  lecture  courses. 
There  were  books,  of  course,  but  few  of  the  multitude  could 
read  or  afford  to  own  them.  The  theater  was  in  a  sense 
the  newspaper  and  the  college  of  the  crowd.  It  taught 
history,  mythology,  and  similar  subjects;  it  reproduced 
recent  crimes  and  other  current  events.  The  untutored 
audiences  of  those  days  were  especially  interested  in  plays 
that  portrayed  violent  or  bloody  murders,  and  in  those 
that  called  for  supernatural  apparitions  to  terrify  the  guilty 
conscience.  From  time  to  time  the  taste  changed,  and  the 
dramatists,  as  in  more  recent  epochs,  were  quick  to  follow  in 
the  wake  of  any  play  that  had  achieved  a  great  success. 

24.  Early  Dramatists.  Among  the  playwrights  who 
were  active  before  Shakespeare  won  the  supreme  place 
among  the  greater  Elizabethans,  a  few  may  be  selected 
for  brief  mention.  John  Lyly  (1554P-1606),  already  spoken 
of  as  the  author  of  Euphues,  wrote  eight  comedies,  mostly 
on  classical  or  mythological  subjects.  Among  them  were 
Campaspey  Sapko  and  PhaOy  Midas,  and  Endymion.  These 
plays  were  produced  at  the  private  theaters  under  royal 
patronage  by  boy-actors  selected  from  the  Chapel  Royal 
and  St.  Paul's  Cathedral.  Lyly's  comedies  were  well- 
written,  abounding  in  sprightly  dialogue  and  humorous  situa- 
tions. They  exerted  considerable  influence  on  the  early  work 
of  Shakespeare.  George  Peele  (1558P-1597?)  was  a  less  able 
dramatist  than  Lyly,  but  wrote  some  excellent  verse  in  his 
plays.  The  Arraignment  of  Paris,  David  and  Bathsabe,  and 
The  Old  Wives'  Tale.    Robert  Greene  (1558-1592)  is  inter- 


124  THE  ELIZABETHAN  AGE 

esting  not  only  as  the  author  of  the  story  Pandosto,  which 
Shakespeare  used  as  the  basis  for  The  Winter's  Tale,  but  as 
a  dramatist  who  produced  a  number  of  successful  plays, 
including  Friar  Baxion  and  Friar  Bungay,  an  admirable 
portrayal  of  English  country  life.  Thomas  Lodge  (1558-1625) 
is  another  dramatist  who  provided  material  to  be  enriched 
by  Shakespeare's  genius.  His  story  of  Rosalynde  furnished 
the  plot  for  As  You  Like  It.  Lodge's  plays,  A  Looking 
Glass  far  London  and  England  (written  in  collaboration 
with  Greene)  and  The  Wounds  of  Civil  War,  are  less  interest- 
ing than  the  works  of  his  contemporaries.  Thomas  Kyd 
(1558-1594),  unlike  the  other  dramatists  just  mentioned, 
did  not  enjoy  a  university  education  and  was  therefore  not 
one  of  the  "university  wits"  as  the  rest  are  sometimes  called. 
Nevertheless  he  wrote,  about  1586,  the  most  popular  of  all 
the  early  Elizabethan  plays.  The  Spanish  Tragedy,  a  *  raw 
head  and  bloody  bones"  play  of  the  most  violent  type. 
Its  very  effective  dramatic  situations  were  not  without 
influence  on  Marlowe  and  on  Shakespeare. 

CHRISTOPHER  MARLOWE  (1564-1593) 

25.  Life  and  Writings.  Early  in  the  year  1564,  about 
two  months  before  the  birth  of  Shakespeare,  Christopher 
Marlowe  was  born  in  Canterbury.  He  was  the  son  of  a 
shoemaker  and  was  educated  at  Corpus  Christi  College, 
Cambridge.  Comparatively  little  is  known  of  his  life,  but 
he  became  an  actor  as  well  as  a  playwright.  His  remarkable 
dramas  were  written  in  the  short  space  of  six  years.  He 
was  only  twenty-nine  when  he  became  involved  in  a  brawl 
with  another  man  in  a  tavern  near  London  and  was  stabbed 
to  death.  What  this  gifted  man  might  have  done  if  his 
dramatic  talent  had  continued  to  develop  side  by  side  with 
Shakespeare  is  a  matter  of  interesting  speculation.  Four 
of  his  plays  are  of  great  interest  and  reveal  him  as  the  most 
important  of  Shakespeare's  predecessors.     He  was   about 


CHRISTOPHER  MARLOWE  125 

twenty-four  when  he  wrote  Tamhurlaine^  a  play  in  two  parts, 
concerning  a  Scjythian  shepherd  who  became  a  mighty 
conqueror  of  the  Orient  and  was  goaded  by  a  mad  ambi- 
tion to  rule  the  world.  In  the  intoxication  of  his  conceit  he 
humiliated  the  kings  whom  he  defeated  by  harnessing  them 
to  his  chariot  and  cracking  the  lash  over  their  heads.  In 
the  end,  when  afflicted  with  disease,  he  is  forced  to  recognize 
the  one  great  Conqueror  to  whom  even  the  omnipotent  ruler 
of  the  Orient  has  to  bow.     His  last  words  are 

"  For  Tamburlaine,  the  Scourge  of  God,  must  die." 

Another  play,  Doctor  Faustus,  was  based  on  a  httle  chap- 
book  telling  of  an  aged  German  scholar  who  had  made  a 
compact  with  the  Devil  in  exchange  for  prolonged  life  and 
worldly  wisdom.  The  same  subject  was  used  long  after 
by  Goethe  for  his  great  play  of  Faust  and  is  also  familiar  in 
operatic  versions.  The  final  scene,  in  which  the  Devil 
comes  to  fetch  the  soul  of  the  wretched  philosopher,  is 
intensely  dramatic. 

The  Jew  of  Malta,  in  some  respects  a  forerunner  of  Shake- 
speare's The  Merchant  of  Venice,  depicts  an  insane  passion 
for  wealth  and  vengeance.  Like  Shylock,  Marlowe's  chief 
character  Barabas,  an  avaricious  money-lender,  lays  traps 
for  others  and  becomes  the  victim  of  his  own  evil  plotting. 
He  falls  into  a  boiling  caldron  which  he  had  prepared  for 
another.  The  fourth  play,  Edward  II,  presents  a  picture 
of  the  reign  of  that  weak  and  helpless  king  who  was  a  mere 
plaything  in  the  hands  of  unscrupulous  advisers.  It  is  a 
more  orderly  play  than  the  others,  but  at  the  same  time 
lacks  their  fire  and  imaginative  force.  As  a  drama  it  repre- 
sents Marlowe's  highest  achievement. 

26.  Character  of  Marlowe's  Work.  Although  Marlowe 
and  Shakespeare  were  of  the  same  age,  we  must  remember 
that  Marlowe's  literary  activity  came  earlier  and  that 
his  tragic  career  was  at  an  end  before  Shakespeare  had 
written  any  important  drama.     The  influence  of  Marlowe 


126  THE  ELIZABETHAN  AGE 

upon  Shakespeare  was  undoubtedly  great.  Most  significant, 
perhaps,  was  Marlowe's  artistic  handling  of  blank  verse. 
This  form,  as  introduced  by  Surrey  and  first  used  in  drama 
by  Sackville  in  GorbudoCy  was  stiff  and  monotonously  regu- 
lar. Marlowe  gave  it  a  freedom  and  an  elasticity  that 
must  have  convinced  Shakespeare  of  the  superiority  of 
blank  verse  to  all  other  meters,  as  far  as  dramatic  composi- 
tion is  concerned.  Note  the  contrast  between  these  typical 
lines  from  Gorhudoc: 

I  meruaile  much  what  reason  ledde  the  king. 
My  father,  thus  without  all  my  desert. 
To  reue  me  half  the  kingdome,  which  by  course 
Of  law  and  nature  should  remayne  to  me. 

and  this  passage  from  Marlowe's  Tamburlaine: 

If  all  the  pens  that  ever  poets  held 
Had  fed  the  feeling  of  their  masters'  thoughts. 
And  every  sweetness  that  inspired  their  hearts. 
Their  minds,  and  muses  on  admired  themes; 
If  all  the  heavenly  quintessence  they  still 
From  their  immortal  flowers  of  poesy. 
Wherein,  as  in  a  mirror,  we  perceive 
The  highest  reaches  of  a  human  wit; 
If  these  had  made  one  poem's  period. 
And  all  combined  in  beauty's  worthiness. 
Yet  should  there  hover  in  their  restless  heads 
One  thought,  one  grace,  one  wonder,  at  the  least. 
Which  into  words  no  virtue  can  digest. 

Consider  also  the  lovely  lines  about  Helen  of  Troy  in  Doctor 

Faustus: 

Was  this  the  face  that  launched  a  thousand  ships 
And  burnt  the  topless  towers  of  Ilium? 
Sweet  Helen,  make  me  immortal  with  a  kiss. 


Oh,  thou  art  fairer  than  the  evening  air 
Clad  in  the  beauty  of  a  thousand  stars. 

The  imaginative  power  of  Marlowe  was  such  as  to  rank 
him  among  the  great  creative  dramatists  of  our  language^ 


WILLIAM  SHAKESPEARE 


127 


He  set  the  form  that  the  drama  was  to  take  for  the  next 
half  century.  Shakespeare  and  his  companions  glorified 
the  model,  but  the  fact  remains  that  they  followed  in  Mar- 
lowe's footsteps.  His  faults  were  those  of  youth  and  un- 
restrained enthusiasm.  At  times  his  language  was  full  of 
exaggeration  and  bombast.  His  sense  of  humor  was  im- 
perfect, and  he  lacked  the  fine  insight  into  human  character 
that  marked  the  work  of  his  brilhant  successors,  but  he 
blazed  the  trail  that  was  to  mark  the  way  of  the  greatest 
dramatists  in  the  whole  range  of  English  literature. 

WILLIAM   SHAKESPEARE  (1564-1616) 

27.  The  Significance  of  Shakespeare.  There  are  few 
competent  persons  in 
the  world  to-day  who 
would  question  the 
position  of  Shake- 
speare as  the  greatest 
of  all  writers.  For 
almost  two  centuries 
the  leading  critics 
everywhere  have 
testified  to  his 
preeminence  and 
have  explained  why 
he  holds  such  an 
exalted  position.  In 
a  narrower  sense, 
Shakespeare  was 
merely  one  of  a  large 

f.  1  The  Chandos  Portrait 

group    ot    men   who 

1  .      .  1  William  Shakespeare 

sought    to    make    a 

Hving  by  \NTiting   for   the   stage   in   the   spacious  days  of 

Queen   Elizabeth;    in    a   broader    sense,    he   was    the    one 

transcendant  writer  who  exceeded  the  achievement  of  all 


128  THE  ELIZABETHAN  AGE 

his  fellows  and  left  us  a  heritage  that  we  prize  beyond 
anything  else  that  literary  art  has  produced.  It  was  one 
of  his  own  intimates,  Ben  Jonson,  who  said  of  Shake- 
speare, *'He  was  not  of  an  age,  but  for  all  time!"  These 
significant  words  were  penned  by  Jonson  only  a  few 
years  after  Shakespeare's  death,  and  they  still  ring  with 
prophetic  force.  The  message  of  Shakespeare  to  mankind 
is  as  pregnant  with  meaning  for  the  present  generation  as 
it  was  for  the  audiences  that  crowded  the  Elizabethan  play- 


Stratford- on- A  von 

houses  to  witness  the  first  performances  of  his  immortal 
dramas. 

28.  Parentage  and  Early  Life.  WiUiam  Shakespeare 
was  born  at  Stratford-on-Avon,  Warwickshire,  and  bap- 
tized on  April  26,  1564.  The  precise  date  of  his  birth  is  not 
certain,  but  it  is  supposed  to  be  April  23d,  the  day  dedi- 
cated to  St.  George,  the  patron  saint  of  England.  Stratford 
is  situated  in  a  most  attractive  district  of  rural  England, 
less  than  a  hundred  miles  from  London.  Only  a  few  miles 
northwest  of  the  town  is  Warwick  Castle,  the  ancestral  seat 


WILLIAM  SHAKESPEARE 


129 


Shakespeare's  Birthplace 


of  the  famous  "King-Maker"  of  the  Wars  of  the  Roses. 
Not  far  beyond  is  Kenilworth  Castle,  where  Lord  Leicester 
gave  a  wonderful  entertainment  to  Queen  Elizabeth  in 
1576,  so  admirably  described  in  Scott's  Kenilworth.  As 
Shakespeare  was  a  boy 
of  twelve  at  that  time, 
it  is  quite  possible  that 
his  father  took  him  to 
the  revels.  The  poet's 
father,  John  Shake- 
speare, was  a  dealer  in 
various  farm-products, 
such  as  grain,  meat,  and 
leather.  He  was  a  man 
of    importance     in     the 

little  town,  holding  the  position  of  chief  alderman  for 
several  terms.  In  1557  John  Shakespeare  married  Mary 
Arden,  the  daughter  of  a  prosperous  farmer  of  Wilmcote, 
not  far  from  Stratford.     William  was  the  third  of  their  eight 

children.  His  early  life 
must  have  been  the 
typical  existence  of  a 
boy  brought  up  in  a 
country  town.  He 
rambled  about  field  and 
forest,  learning  much  of 
the  plants  at  the  way- 
side and  the  birds  over- 
head. He  heard  the 
stories  of  elves,  goblins, 
and  wood-sprites  that, 
are  so  dear  to  the  hearts  of  children.  He  probably  attended 
the  Stratford  Grammar  School,  where  he  pursued  the  usual 
studies  —  Latin  grammar,  the  Catechism,  and  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer. 


Kenilworth 


130 


THE   ELIZABETHAN  AGE 


29.  Early  Manhood.  We  have  considerable  knowledge 
of  financial  reverses  and  difficulties  that  befell  Shakespeare's 
father,  but  there  are  no  authentic  records  of  this  period  of 
Shakespeare's  own  life  until  1582,  when  we  learn  of  his 
securing  a  marriage  license  to  wed  Anne  Hathaway,  who 
lived  at  Shottery,  about  a  mile  west  of  Stratford.  Shake- 
speare was  less  than  eighteen  at  the  time,  while  his  wife  was 
eight  years  his  senior.  Because  of  certain  references  in  his 
plays  and  poems,   some  biographers  have  concluded  that 

Shakespeare's  married 
life  was  unhappy  and 
that  he  regretted  hav- 
ing married  a  woman  so 
much  older  than  he 
was.  We  do  know 
definitely  that  Shake- 
speare had  three  chil- 
dren—  a  daughter, 
Susanna,  w^ho  grew  up 
and  married  Dr.  John 
Hall,  a  staid  Puritan 
physician  of  Stratford;  and  twins  named  Hamnet  and 
Judith.  The  boy  Hamnet  died  at  the  age  of  eleven,  but 
Judith  reached  maturity  and  married  Thomas  Quiney. 
These  daughters  of  Shakespeare  had  children  in  turn,  but 
the  family  did  not  survive  beyond  that  generation. 

There  are  rumors  that  young  Shakespeare,  burdened  as 
he  was  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  with  the  support  of  a  wife 
and  three  children,  found  existence  at  Stratford  very  irk- 
some^ There  is  also  a  legend  connecting  Shakespeare  with 
a  deer-poaching  episode  on  the  estate  of  Sir  Thomas  Lucy 
at  Charlecote  Park,  near  Stratford.  Whether  Shakespeare 
fled  to  London  to  escape  persecution  on  that  account  or 
to  try  his  fortunes  in  the  metropolis  is  not  kno\<^n.  Even 
the  time  of  his  departure  from  Stratford  is  not  certain,  but 


The  Stratford  Grammar  School 


WILLIAM  SHAKESPEARE 


131 


it  was  probably  between  1585  and  1587.  He  apparently 
became  associated  with  the  theater  soon  after  his  arrival  in 
London.  As  early  as  1592  Robert  Greene  made  a  jealous 
reference  in  one  of  his  pamphlets  to  "an  upstart  Crow, 
beautified  with  our  feathers,"  and  who  was  "in  his  owne 
conceit  the  only  Shake-scene  in  a  countrie."  This  is  usually 
accepted  as  direct  proof  that  Greene  then  felt  the  force  of 
his  young  rival's  budding  popularity  as  a  dramatist  and 
resented  Shakespeare's  borrowing  of  plots  from  other  writers. 
We  know  that  Shakespeare  became  an  actor  and  that  he 
assumed  parts  of  secondary  importance.  Among  his  roles 
in  his  own  plays  were 
those  of  Adam  in  As 
You  Like  It  and  the 
Ghost  in  Hamlet.  It  is 
also  evident  that  his 
earlier  efforts  were  spent 
upon  revising  or  adapting 
the  plays  of  other 
dramatists  before  he 
undertook  to  venture 
upon  original  work 
in  that  field.  In  1593  he  published  a  beautiful  poem, 
Venus  and  Adonis,  which  he  dedicated  to  the  Earl  of 
Southampton;  a  year  later  he  brought  out  another  poem. 
The  Rape  of  Lucrece,  telling  a  pathetic  story  of  the  early 
days  of  ancient  Rome.  Throughout  the  last  decade  of  the 
century  he  produced  his  dramas  with  great  rapidity,  aver- 
aging about  two  plays  a  year.  As  his  work  improved  in 
quality,  his  fortunes  grew  better.  He  made  friends  in  high 
places  and  the  companies  in  which  he  was  interested  often 
gave  performances  at  Court  by  royal  command.  He  had 
prospered  so  well  by  1597  that  he  was  able  to  purchase  New 
Place,  the  finest  property  in  Stratford,  and  thereafter  he 
added  to  his  land  holdings  from  time  to  time,  as  well  as  to 


The  Hathaway  Cottage 


132  THE  ELIZABETHAN  AGE 

his  shares  in  the  London  theaters  with  which  he  was  con- 
nected. Records  show  that  Shakespeare,  unhke  so  many 
Hterary  persons  of  his  own  and  later  days,  was  a  man  of 
practical  business  ability  and  knew  how  to  take  care  of  his 
money  after  he  had  earned  it. 

30.  Shakespeare*s  Life  in  London.  During  the  time 
that  Shakespeare  was  writing  his  greatest  plays  (1598-1604) 
he  lodged  in  the  home  of  Christopher  Mountjoy,  a  French 
wig-maker,  at  the  corner  of  Silver  and  Monkwell  Streets, 
London.  A  rather  pretty  story,  brought  to  light  a  few 
years  ago  by  an  American  scholar.  Dr.  Charles  W.  Wallace, 
gives  us  some  idea  of  Shakespeare's  environment  in  that 
period.  The  Mount  joys  had  a  daughter  Mary,  who  looked 
with  favor  upon  Stephen  Bellott,  a  young  French  apprentice 
in  her  father's  establishment.  Apparently  young  Bellott 
did  not  realize  that  he  would  be  acceptable  to  the  Mount- 
joys  as  a  son-in-law,  so  Mrs.  Mountjoy  sought  Shakespeare's 
aid  to  convey  a  delicate  hint  to  the  timid  youth.  Shake- 
speare succeeded  sp  well  that-  the  betrothal  and  marriage  of 
the  young  people  followed  in  due  course,  but  several  years 
later  a  family  quarrel  developed  because  Mountjoy  failed 
to  pay  over  to  the  Bellott  s  a  dowry  that  he  had  promised 
his  daughter.  The  whole  matter  came  up  in  court  and 
Shakespeare  was  summoned  as  a  witness.  Shakespeare's  in- 
teresting testimony  revealed  the  part  he  played  in  bringing 
about  the  match,  but  showed  that  he  knew  nothing  of  the 
promised  dowry.  There  is  no  record  of  the  final  decision 
in  the  case.  While  this  incident  has  no  bearing  on  Shake- 
speare's literary  life,  it  is  of  significance  because  of  the  light 
that  it  throws  upon  his  familiar  daily  associations  in  the 
period  during  which  he  was  writing  the  greatest  dramas  in 
the  world's  literature. 

31.  Later  Years.  It  was  formerly  believed  that  Shake- 
speare retired  from  active  play-writing  about  1611  and 
withdrew  to  his  home  at  New  Place,  Stratford.     The  evi- 


WILLIAM  SHAKESPEARE 


133 


dence  in  the  Moimtjoy  case  tends  to  prove  that  Shakespeare 
kept  up  his  interest  in  the  theaters  until  near  the  end  of  his 
career.  Possibly  he  took  only  occasional  trips  to  London 
to  look  after  his  affairs  there.  His  health  began  to  fail  in 
the  early  months  of  1616  and  he  drew  up  his  will,  evidently 
fearing  the  worst.  He  died  on  April  23  —  traditionally 
his  birthday  —  and  was  buried  in  Trinity  Church  at  Strat- 
ford, with  the  well-known  quatrain  cut  into  the  stone  above 
his  resting-place  to  deter  any  who  might  thereafter  be 
inquisitive  enough  to  think  of  tampering  with  his  grave. 

32.  Literary  Periods.    Complete  editions  of  Shakespeare 
include   thirty-seven    plays   which    he   produced   during   a 


m 


Good  frenD  for  Iesvs  jtake  forbearl, 

TO  Dice  TIE  DVST  ENCLOASED  FEARL^^ 

Blest  be  f  man  ^  sparlsths  stones, 

AND  CVRST  BE  HE  ^  MOVES  MY  BONES* 


Shakespeare's  Epitaph 


period  of  about  twenty  years.  A  few  plays  thus  listed  as 
Shakespeare's  reveal  Uttle  or  nothing  of  his  characteristic 
traits,  and  one  of  them  —  Titus  Andronicus  —  is  now 
generally  believed  to  be  by  other  writers.  Some  of  the 
earlier  dramas,  such  as  the  three  parts  of  Henry  VI  and  The 
Taming  of  the  Shrew,  as  well  as  two  of  the  latest,  Pericles 
and  Henry  VIII,  indicate  the  use  of  existing  material 
which  the  master  dramatist  sought  to  improve,  or  the  activ- 
ity of  some  collaborator.  It  is  customary  to  group  the 
dramatic  works  of  Shakespeare  into  four  periods,  according 
to  the  dominant  influences  under  which  the  respective  plays 
were  written.  Thus  classified,  the  most  important  plays 
are: 

First  Period:  Love's  Labor's  Lost;   The  Ccmiedy  of  Errors; 


134  THE  ELIZABETHAN  AGE 

A^Midsummer  Night's  Dream;  Two  Gentlemen  of  Verona; 
Romeo  and  Juliet;    Richard  III;   Richard  II;    King  John. 

Second  Period :  TfiifMercbjmt  of  Vendee;  AlVs  Well  That 
Ends  Well;  Henry  iV  {two  parts) ;  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor; 
Herizny^^;  Much  Ado  about  Nothing;  As  You  Like  It; 
Twelfth^  Night. 

Third  Period:  Julius  Caesar;  Hamlet;  Othello;  Macbeth; 
King  Lear;  Antony  and  Cleopatra;  Coriolanus;  Troilus  and 
Cressida;  Measure  for  Measure;    Timon  of  Athens. 

Fourth  Period:  Cymbeline;  The  Winter' s  Tale;  The 
Tempest.  "  """^ 

33.  The  First  Period  (1588-1595).  It  was  but  natural 
that  even  a  great  dramatist  hke  Shakespeare  had  to  learn 
the  rules  of  his  art.  Apart  from  his  active  association  with 
the  theater  as  an  actor,  there  was  nothing  more  helpful 
than  his  early  experience  in  revising  and  adapting  plays 
written  by  others.  He  corrected  many  of  their  faults, 
yet  he  revealed  not  a  few  of  his  own.  It  would  be  absurd 
to  look  upon  Shakespeare  as  a  sort  of  literary  divinity  who 
could  do  no  wrong  to  the  principles  of  art.  The  truest 
admirers  of  Shakespeare's  genius  are  those  who  follow  his 
steady  growth  in  dramatic  power  from  the  first  halting 
efforts  of  his  apprenticeship  to  the  supreme  expression  in 
the  mature  comedies  and  the  exalted  tragedies  of  his  later 
life. 

The  plays  of  the  first  period  are  characterized  by  a  rather 
rigid  method  of  verse  construction  in  which  he  seemed  to 
compose  his  dialogue  line  by  line,  giving  each  verse  a  more 
or  less  distinct  rhetorical  value.  There  was  little  running-on 
of  the  thought  from  one  verse  to  another,  and  less  disposi- 
tion to  use  blank  verse.  He  also  made  free  use  of  puns  and 
far-fetched  conceits  during  this  period,  revealing  a  tendency 
to  imitate  rather  closely  those  dramatists  whose  work  was 
meeting  with  favor.  Among  these  early  plays  were  Love's 
Labor's  Lost,  a  fanciful  French  story,  in  which  the  char- 


WILLIAM  SHAKESPEARE 


135 


Painting  by  Mile.  Oppenheim 

Romeo  and  Juliet 


acters  are  very  lightly  sketched  and  the  verse  abounds  in 
rhymed  lines,  lyrical  measures,  and  the  sort  of  literary  adorn- 
ment that  marks  the  plays  of  Lyly.  The  Comedy  of 
Errws  is  a  boisterous  farce,  based  on  a  play  by  Plautus, 
the  Latin  writer  of 
comedies,  presenting 
the  ridiculous  misunder- 
standings that  follow 
the  confusion  of  twin 
brothers  and  their  twin 
servants.  A  Midsum- 
mer Night's  Dream 
represents  a  distinct  ad- 
vance  in  dramatic 
power  and  is  the  first 
play  to  reveal  Shake- 
speare's     wonderful 

imaginative  power.  This  is  not  due  to  the  conventional  love- 
story,  nor  to  the  amusing  by-play  of  the  aspiring  Athenian 
artisans  with  their  "lamentable  tragedy"  of  Pyramus  and 
Thisbe,  but  to  the  delicate  treatment  of  the  scenes  in  fairy- 
land —  the  quarrels  of  King  Oberon  and  his  dainty  Queen 
Titania  over  their  changeling-boy,  and  the  merry  pranks  of 
that  irresistible  sprite  called  Puck.  In  Two  Gentlemen  of 
Verona  we  have  the  first  of  the  Italian  stories  so  skilfully 
treated  by  Shakespeare.  This  play  anticipates  some  of  the 
features  that  characterize  his  best  comedies  —  depicting  a 
situation  of  crossed  loves  and  having  his  heroine  masquerade 
as  a  boy  ^-  but  it  lacks  the  sustained  power  and  depth  of 
the  later  plays. 

Romeo  and  Juliet,  the  first  of  the  important  tragedies, 
tells  one  of  the  most  pathetic  love-stories  in  our  literature. 
Behind  the  romantic  attachment  of  this  pair  of  youthful 
lovers,  lurks  the  bitter  feud  between  their  respective  fam- 
ilies —  a  strife  that  brings  them  to  their  doom.     To  this 


136 


THE  ELIZABETHAN  AGE 


period  also  belong  the  historical  plays,  Richard  III  and 
Richard  II.  The  latter,  like  Marlowe's  Edward  II,  por- 
trays a  weak  and  ineffectual  sovereign,  a  striking  example 
of  hopeless  incapacity  for  ruling.  Richard  II  is  really 
the  better  play  of  the  two,  but  Richard  III,  because  of  the 
surpassing  villainy  attributed  to  that  unscrupulous  king, 
is  the  more  popular  and  makes  a  most  effective  acting  play 

to-day.  King  John, 
another  historical 
play,  has  not  held  the 
stage  so  well,  largely 
because  the  con- 
temptible, blundering 
tyrant  who  ruled  Eng- 
land in  the  days  of 
Magna  Carta  is  a  less 
interesting  stage 
figure  than  the  artful 
Richard  III.  In  the 
fourth  act  of  this 
play  we  find  one  of 
Shakespeare's  most 
appealing  scenes  — 
where  Hubert  is  sent 
by  the  King  to  burn 
out  the  eyes  of  Prince 
Arthur  with  hot  irons.  No  student  should  fail  to  read  that 
pathetic  episode,  which  reveals  the  gripping  power  of  Shake- 
speare's pen  even  in  those  earlier  years  of  his  dramatic 
apprenticeship . 

34.  The  Second  Period  (1595-1600).  During  the  next 
period  Shakespeare  made  remarkable  progress  in  dramatic 
art.  He  showed  greater  confidence  in  handling  his  material 
and  maturer  wisdom  in  portraying  human  character.  At 
the  very  outset  of  this  period  he  produced  one  of  the  most 


Painting  by  Kaulbach 

Hubert  and  Arthur 


WILLIAM   SHAKESPEARE  137 

popular  of  all  his  plays,  The  Merchant  of  Venice.  In  that 
absorbing  drama  Shakespeare  successfully  blended  with  a 
tragic  theme  two  romantic  love-stories  that  end  happily. 
As  usual,  he  took  familiar  material  to  build  up  his  play. 
The  story  of  the  three  caskets  associated  with  Bassanio  s 
wooing  of  Portia  is  very  old,  and  the  "pound  of  flesh"  story 
of  Shylock  and  Antonio  is  found  in  remote  literature.  The 
great  trial-scene  of  this  play  reveals  Shakespeare's  finest 
qualities  and  proves  his  complete  grasp  of  the  dramatic 
situation.  There  is  much  lovely  poetry  in  the  fifth  act, 
which  is  so  often  omitted  in  modern  representations  of  the 
play.  The  Merchant  of  Venice  was  followed  by  an  unpleasant 
satirical  comedy,  AWs  Well  That  Ends  Well,  in  which 
Shakespeare  exposes  the  emptiness  of  distinction  that  rests 
on  earthly  rank.  The  story,  which  was  drawn  from  Italian 
sources,  is  one  of  considerable  power,  but  is  no  longer  popular 
because  of  the  despicable  character  of  the  hero.  Very 
different  are  the  two  parts  of  Henry  IV,  which  are  among 
Shakespeare's  finest  historical  plays.  There  are  spirited 
scenes  depicting  notable  events  of  the  reign  and  memorable 
episodes  in  the  humorous  sub-plot  concerning  the  adven- 
tures of  Prince  Hal  with  Sir  John  Falstaff  and  his  band  of 
roisterers.  Falstaff  is  one  of  the  outstanding  characters 
in  world-literature  —  a  colossus  of  humor,  indeed,  as  pro- 
digious in  his  lying  and  his  cowardice  as  in  his  boasting 
and  feasting. 

There  is  a  tradition  that  Shakespeare  wrote  his  next  play, 
Merry  Wives  of  Windsor,  at  the  request  of  Queen  Elizabeth, 
who  wished  to  see  Falstaff  in  love.  According  to  the  story, 
Shakespeare  wrote  the  play  in  a  fortnight  and  pleased  the 
Court  greatly,  but  this  Falstaff  is  a  very  different  creation 
from  the  cowardly  braggart  of  the  Henry  IV  plays.  There 
is  much  entertaining  comedy  in  Falstaff's  adventures  as  a 
gallant  lover,  but  also  much  horse-play.  This  comedy 
does  not  rank  among  Shakespeare's  best  works.     Henry  V 


138  THE  ELIZABETHAN  AGE 

is  a  great  drama  of  patriotism  —  not  so  much  a  historical 
play  as  a  series  of  soul-stirring  episodes  culminating  in  the 
glorious  victory  of  Agincourt.  Prince  Hal  has  now  become 
King  and  has  turned  his  back  upon  the  boon  companions 
of  his  earlier  years.  Some  of  the  old  group  are  introduced, 
but  Shakespeare  wisely  permitted  Falstaff  to  die  "off-stage." 
Doubtless  many  an  Elizabethan  groundhng  felt  sincere 
regret  when  Mistress  Quickly  narrated  the  story  of  Sir 
John's  last  moments,  and  brought  home  to  them  the  fact 
that  they  would  see  no  more  of  the  fat,  lovable  old  rogue. 

The  masterpieces  of  the  Second  Period  are  the  three 
splendid  comedies  that  bring  it  to  a  closer  Miich  Ado  about 
Nothing,  As  You  Like  It,  and  Twelfth  Night.  Shake- 
speare's art  had  now  reached  a  high  level,  and  his  outlook 
on  life  was  as  yet  undarkened  by  the  tragic  events  that 
were  soon  to  overtake  him.  Much  Ado  about  Nothing  is 
the  most  serious  of  the  three  and  represents  the  inter- 
weaving of  two  interesting  love-stories.  The  leading 'char- 
acters, the  sharp-witted  lovers  Benedick  and  Beatrice,  are 
admirably  drawn,  and  there  is  much  humor  in  the  pre- 
tentious officiousness  of  the  constables,  Dogberry  and  Verges, 
who  are  actuated  by  the  best  motives  in  undertaking  to 
"comprehend  all  vagrom  men." 

As  You  Like  It  is  generally  regarded  as  the  most  charming 
of  all  Shakespeare's  comedies.  It  glorifies  youth,  love, 
and  the  merry  greenwood.  Although  the  story  was  taken 
from  Lodge's  romance,  Rosalynde,  Shakespeare  imparted 
to  the  material  a  magic  touch  that  was  entirely  his  own. 
The  plot  is  not  notable  for  ingenuity,  but  the  characters  are 
most  interesting  as  they  develop  the  action  in  the  idyllic 
setting  of  the  Forest  of  Arden.  There  is  probably  in  all 
Shakespeare  no  more  attractive  heroine  than  Rosalind — 
vivacious,  witty,  yet  tender-hearted  and  wholly  devoted  to 
her  beloved  Orlando.  Lodge's  story  has  no  hint  of  such  a 
character    as    the    meditative,    cynical    Jaques,    with    his 


WILLIAM  SHAKESPEARE 


139 


Painting  by  Pettie 

Touchstone  and  Audrey 


famous  soliloquy  concerning  the  seven  ages  of  man;  nor 
of  Touchstone,  the  delightful  "clownish  fool"  who,  like 
so  many  of  Shakespeare's 
fools,  gives  utterance  to 
thoughts  that  wiser  men 
may  well  ponder  over. 

Twelfth  Night,  which 
brings  the  Second  Period 
to  a  close,  almost  rivals 
the  popularity  of  As 
You  Like  It.  Critics 
regard  it  as  the  most 
graceful  and  most  har- 
monious of  Shakespeare's 
comedies.  There  is  less  wit  than  we  find  in  As  You  Like 
Ity  but  the  action  is  more  dramatic.  Shakespeare  did 
not  hesitate  to  repeat  devices  that  he  had  just  used  in 
As  You  Like  It  —  such  as  having  the  heroine  mas- 
querade as  a  comely  youth  and  inspiring  love  in  the  heart 
of  another  woman.  Viola's  love  for  the  Duke  is  more 
serious  and  patiently  devoted  than  Rosalind's  love  for 
Orlando.  She  is  less  self-assertive  and  less  frolicsome; 
naturally  she  is  less  comfortable  in  her  boyish  disguise 
and  feels  more  keenly  the  difficulties  of  the  part  she  has 
to  play  in  the  tangled  love-affairs  of  the  comedy.  Malvolio, 
the  vain  and  pompous  steward  who  imagines  his  wealthy 
mistress  to  be  in  love  with  him,  is  a  more  finished  character 
study  than  Jaques.  Much  as  we  may  smile  at  the  misad- 
ventures of  the  poor  fellow,  we  recognize  none  the  less  that 
he  is  still  worthy  of  respect.  Shakespeare  did  not  make 
him  a  caricature,  but  a  human  being  who  unfortunately 
takes  himself  too  seriously.  His  experiences  are  those  of  a 
man  who  does  not  possess  a  sense  of  humor;  he  belongs  to 
that  group  of  unhappy  persons  who  consider  themselves 
"misunderstood"  by  the  world. 


140 


THE  ELIZABETHAN  AGE 


35.  The  Third  Period  (1600-1608).  Many  investigators 
have  sought  to  account  for  the  remarkable  change  in  the 
character  of  Shakespeare's  dramatic  work  about  the  year 
1600  —  a  change  of  attitude  toward  life  and  his  fellow-men 
that  gave  a  somber  tinge  to  all  the  work  of  his  Third  Period. 
Certain  facts  are  known  that  may  explain  in  part  his  turn- 
ing from  merry  comedy  to  the  soul-searching  depths  of 
tragedy.  His  father,  who  had  suffered  many  disappoint- 
ments and  reverses,  died  in  1601.  About  the  same  time  the 
Earl  of  Essex  was  condemned  for  treason  after  having 
foolishly  organized  a  rebellion  against  the  Queen.  Shake- 
speare's friend  and  patron,  the  Earl  of  Southampton,  was 
involved  in  the  affair  and  imprisoned  in  the  Tower.  Shake- 
speare himself  seems  to  have  lost  favor  at  Court,  and  there 
are  many  reasons  to  believe  that  his  conscience  troubled 
him  sorely.  We  find  little  trace  of  this  morbid  depression 
in  his  first  tragedy  of  the  period,  Julius  Caesar,  deservedly 

the  most  popular  of 
the  Roman  plays. 
From  Plutarch's  Lives 
came  most  of  the 
material  for  this  in- 
teresting study  of  the 
contending  forces  of 
aristocracy  and  democ- 
racy in  ancient  Rome. 
As  a  play,  Julius  Caesar 
is  inferior  to  most  of 
the  great  tragedies  that 
followed,  but  it  is 
perennially  popular  as  a  stage  spectacle  because  of  the 
stirring  "mob  scenes"  and  of  the  fine  parts  written  for 
Brutus,  Cassius,  and  Mark  Antony. 

Immediately  after  this  Roman  tragedy  came  Hamlet, 
the  best  known  of  all  Shakespeare's  plays,  but  not  the 


Painting  by  Diehl 

The  Play  Scene  from  Hamlet 


WILLIAM  SHAKESPEARE  141 

greatest  in  imaginative  quality  nor  as  a  well-constructed 
work  of  art.  In  spite  of  its  great  length  —  almost  twice 
the  length  of  Macbeth  —  there  is  little  plot.  Our  interest 
centers  almost  entirely  in  the  delineation  of  the  "melan- 
choly Dane'*  who  finds  his  powers  strangely  paralyzed 
when  a  solemn  duty  is  thrust  upon  him.  The  world  seems 
never  to  tire  of  the  fascinating  problem  of  considering  the 
mental  and  spiritual  state  of  Prince  Hamlet.  It  may 
care  comparatively  little  for  the  hypocrisy  of  King  Claudius, 
the  folly  of  Polonius,  the  treachery  of  Laertes,  or  even  the 
woes  of  poor,  forlorn  Ophelia  —  Hamlet  himself  is  at  all 
times  the  one  dominating  figure  in  the  tragedy. 

Othelloy  a  much  greater  play  than  Hamlety  is  a  masterpiece 
of  dramatic  construction.  From  a  collection  of  Italian 
short  stories  Shakespeare  took  the  material  which  he  wrought 
into  this  thrilling  tragedy  —  perhaps  the  most  terrible  of 
all  his  plays  in  its  pitiless  portrayal  of  the  sufferings  of  the 
innocent  at  the  instigation  of  evil-minded  persons.  Othello 
is  the  typical  tragedy  of  jealousy  —  the  Wrecking  of  the 
happiness  of  Othello  and  Desdemona  by  the  malevolent 
lago.  No  group  of  characters  in  any  play  is  more  fully 
developed  than  these  three.  Shakespeare  made  lago  so 
important  a  figure  that  great  actors  frequently  alternate 
between  that  part  and  Othello.  The  play  shows  a  fine 
sense  of  proportion  and  moves  with  great  rapidity.  The 
final  scene  has  been  described  as  the  most  intense  in  all 
modern  literature,  comparable  to  the  finest  work  of  the 
Greek  tragedians. 

Macbeth  is  acclaimed  by  many  critics  as  Shakespeare's 
masterpiece,  though  others  award  the  palm  to  Othello. 
As  the  latter  is  a  tragedy  of  jealousy,  Macbeth  is  a  tragedy 
of  ambition.  The  story  of  the  Scottish  general  who  was 
told  by  the  "weird  sisters"  that  he  would  be  King  of  Scot- 
land and  the  fulfilment  of  that  prophecy  are  almost  the  entire 
business  of  the  play,  which  is  one  of  the  shortest  in  Shake- 


142  THE  ELIZABETHAN  AGE 

speare.  There  is  no  well-defined  sub-plot  and  almost  no 
attempt  at  humorous  by-play  or  rehef.  Nowhere  else  has 
Shakespeare  portrayed  so  impressively  the  horror  of  the 
guilty  conscience.  Never  has  the  law  of  retribution  been 
worked  out  more  logically  or  more  relentlessly  than  here. 
Once  more,  as  in  Othello,  the  spirit  of  Greek  tragedy  rules 
strongly  in  the  progress  of  the  action.  Macbeth  passes 
bhndly  onward  to  his  fate  like  one  upon  whom  the  gods  had 
placed  the  seal  of  destruction.  In  Lady  Macbeth,  com- 
panion in  her  husband's  guilt,  we  have  the  most  interesting 
of  the  women  created  by  Shakespeare;  a  woman  of  strong, 
resolute  nature,  who  does  not  flinch  in  the  accomplishment 
of  foul  purposes.  Only  in  the  profoundly  impressive  sleep- 
walking scene  when,  no  longer  mistress  of  herself,  she  seeks 
to  wash  the  imagined  blood  from  her  hands,  do  we  fully 
realize  the  dread  burden  of  remorse  that  her  guilty  con- 
science is  carrying. 

King  Lear  has  been  the  subject  of  much  lavish  praise 
from  the  critics,  some  of  whom  have  given  it  higher  rank 
than  Othello  or  Macbeth  as  a  work  of  dramatic  art.  The 
main  plot  of  Lear  and  his  three  daughters  presents  the 
theme  of  filial  ingratitude  with  such  power  that  several 
scenes  are  painful  to  witness  on  the  stage.  Unlike  the  other 
two  great  tragedies  just  mentioned,  King  Lear  has  a  well- 
developed  sub-plot  which  distracts  our  attention  consider- 
ably from  the  main  theme.  There  is  not  the  same  relent- 
less progress  toward  catastrophe;  with  slight  changes  the 
story  might  be  made  to  end  happily,  and  aspiring  drama- 
tists of  later  periods  did  not  hesitate  to  take  the  necessary 
liberties  with  Shakespeare's  text.  There  is  fine  character- 
drawing  in  King  Lear  —  the  faithful  Kent,  the  model  of 
loyal  friendship;  the  shrewd,  pathetic  jesting  of  the  un- 
named Fool,  the  greatest  of  all  Shakespeare's  clowns  and 
fools;  the  forbidding  figures  of  Regan  and  Goneril,  mon- 
strous in  their  ingratitude  and  relentless  in  their  iniquity; 


WILLIAM  SHAKESPEARE 


143 


the  almost  angelic  beauty  of  Cordelia's  character;  and 
finally,  poor  Lear  himself,  victim  of  his  own  decaying  men- 
tahty  and  misplaced  confidence  —  a  mighty  figure  shorn 
of  power,  and  raging  in  vain  fury  against  the  stern  facts  of 
circumstance. 

Two  other  important  tragedies  of  this  period  remain  to 
be  considered  —  Antony  and  Cleopatra  and  Coriolanus.  The 
former  brings  into  the  compass  of  a  powerful  historical 


Painting  by  F.  M.  Brown 


Cordelia's  Portion 


drama  many  significant  events  in  the  early  days  of  the 
Roman  Empire.  Mark  Antony,  who  made  such  a  heroic 
figure  in  Julius  Caesar,  is  here  revealed  in  his  later  career 
as  the  victim  of  the  beautiful  Egyptian  Queen,  the  "Ser- 
pent of  the  Nile."  This  play,  which  is  rarely  enacted 
nowadays,  lacks  the  dramatic  intensity  of  the  preceding 
tragedies,  since  it  is  really  a  succession  of  episodes  in  the 
lives  of  those  concerned.  However,  the  picture  of  the  noble 
Roman   general  gradually   sinking   to   his   ruin   amid   the 


144  THE  ELIZABETHAN  AGE 

Oriental  enticements  of  the  Egyptian  "court  is  most  impress- 
ive. All  who  come  within  the  circle  of  the  fascinating 
enchantress  seem  to  tread  the  maze  from  which  the  only 
escape  is  death. 

Coriolanus,  the  last  of  Shakespeare's  tragedies,  reveals 
the  bitter  struggles  between  the  Roman  patricians  and  the 
plebeians  of  the  fifth  century  b.c.  In  portraying  the  vexa- 
tious social  problems  attending  the  "privileges  of  the  few 
and  the  claims  of  the  many,"  Shakespeare  showed  himself 
a  great  philosopher  as  well  as  a  great  poet  and  dramatist. 
Coriolanus  has  not  been  a  popular  play  on  the  modern  stage 
because  it  lacks  the  passion  and  the  dramatic  exaltation 
that  we  find  in  Shakespeare  at  his  best,  yet  there  are  many 
admirable  scenes  in  this  fine  study  of  social  clashes  in  ancient 
Rome.  Coriolanus  himself  is  a  noble  figure,  as  much  a 
victim  of  his  aristocratic  caste  as  of  his  own  pride.  His 
ill-concealed  contempt  for  the  fickle  mob  that  can  be  swayed 
by  every  flattering  demagogue  leads  to  the  decisive  step 
that  involves  his  ruin. 

During  the  Third  Period  Shakespeare  wrote  several  other 
somber  plays  that  are  less  popular  because  they  are  so  deeply 
tinged  with  the  bitterness  of  spirit  that  aflflicted  the  poet 
at  that  time.  Troilus  and  Cressida  tells  the  same  story 
that  Chaucer  chose  for  his  Troilus  and  Criseyde  —  the  un- 
masking of  a  faithless  sweetheart.  The  hero  loses  his 
belief  in  human  honor  and  becomes  a  heart-broken  cynic. 
Nearly  all  the  Greek  and  Trojan  heroes  are  satirized  in  this 
most  unpleasant  play.  Measure  for  Measure  deals  with 
the  exposure  of  an  unjust,  hypocritical  judge  who  had  posed 
as  a  model  of  virtue.  It  is  a  depressing  story,  redeemed 
only  by  the  sweet  character  of  the  heroine  Isabella.  Timon 
of  Athens  presents  the  old  story  of  the  rich  fool  and  his 
"fair  weather"  friends  who  desert  him  when  his  wealth  is 
spent.  Timon  suffers  a  hideous  awakening  and  rails  bitterly 
against  his  fellow-men.    It  is  easy  to  understand  why  these 


WILLIAM  SHAKESPEARE  145 

pessimistic  plays  are  rarely  undertaken  by  modern  actors 
and  why  they  are  unpopular  among  the  readers  of  Shake- 
speare. They  reflect  a  cynicism  that  is  most  disheartening 
and  tend  to  shake  one's  faith  in  humanity.  Shakespeare 
himself  hved  to  see  serener  days  than  those  that  inspired 
these  morbid  satires,  and  there  is  no  reason  why  we  should 
not  take  our  great  poet  at  his  best. 

36.  The  Fourth  Period  (1608-1611).  About  the  year 
1608  the  shadows  that  had  been  hanging  over  Shakespeare 
seemed  to  break  away;  his  suspicion  and  his  distrust  of 
others  vanished.  There  followed  a  mood  of  restful  con- 
templation that  found  expression  in  the  three  serene  plays 
of  this  period.  All  of  them  end  happily  and  are  written 
in  a  calm,  broad- visioned  spirit  that  reflected  the  "golden 
glow  of  life's  afternoon."  We  pass  from  the  turbulent  and 
heart-rending  scenes  of  his  tragedies  and  from  the  bitter 
pessimism  of  his  more  cynical  plays  to  a  reahzation  of  his 
renewed  confidence  in  mankind. 

Cymbeline  is  a  rather  involved  play,  combining  a  story  of 
legendary  Britain  with  an  episode  from  Italian  sources. 
Its  charming  heroine,  Imogen,  depicts  Shakespeare's  ideal 
of  a  faithful  wife  devoted  to  a  husband  whose  very  nobility 
of  character  is  almost  the  cause  of  his  undoing.  Many 
regard  Imogen  as  the  most  perfect  of  Shakespeare's  heroines. 
Charity  in  our  judgment  of  others  is  impressed  upon  us  as 
we  follow  the  unfolding  of  this  drama,  in  which  two  such 
noble  natures  as  Imogen  and  Posthumus  are  innocently 
caught  in  the  toils  created  by  base  creatures  about  them. 

The  Winter's  Tale  is,  like  its  predecessor,  a  succession  of 
lovely  scenes.  Two  romantic  stories,  in  which  the  mother 
Hermione  and  the  daughter  Perdita  are  the  heroines,  have 
been  admirably  intertwined  in  this  play.  Shakespeare  gave 
httle  thought  to  the  construction  of  this  drama,  but  lavished 
his  art  on  the  development  of  the  characters.  The  situa- 
tions are  similar  to  those  that  we  find  in  the  saddest  of 


146  THE  ELIZABETHAN  AGE 

tragedies,  but  in  response  to  the  spirit  of  the  times,  Shake- 
speare subtly  turned  the  course  of  events  to  a  happy  out' 
come. 

The  Tempest,  probably  the  last  of  Shakespeare's  important 
plays,  is  curiously  suggestive  of  farewells.  The  scene  on 
"an  uninhabited  island"  gave  absolute  freedom  to  the 
dramatist's  fancy  and  resulted  in  a  play  unusually  rich  in 
imaginative  power.  Few  dramas  offer  such  diversified,  yet 
happily  delineated  characters  as  the  shipwrecked  Italian 
princes  and  nobility;  the  frantic  sailors  shouting  vain  orders 
in  the  fury  of  the  storm;  the  debased  trio,  Caliban,  Trinculo, 
and  Stephano,  even  more  bestial  in  their  drunkenness;  the 
innocent  young  lovers,  Ferdinand  and  Miranda;  the  delicate 
sprite  Ariel;  and,  dominating  all,  the  commanding  figure 
of  Prospero  who  directs  the  strange  events  after  the  ship- 
wreck with  a  supreme  wisdom  that  keeps  the  desired  end  in 
view.  Scholars  have  not  been  slow  to  suggest  that  there  is 
clear  intimation  of  Shakespeare's  farewell  to  the  drama  in 
these  beautiful  lines  of  Prospero 's  near  the  end  of  the  play: 

Our  revels  now  are  ended.     These  our  actors. 
As  I  foretold  you,  were  all  spirits  and 
Are  melted  into  air,  into  thin  air: 
And,  like  the  baseless  fabric  of  this  vision, 
The  cloud-capp'd  towers,  the  gorgeous  palaces. 
The  solemn  temples,  the  great  globe  itself, 
Yea,  all  which  it  inherit,  shall  dissolve 
And,  like  this  insubstantial  pageant  faded. 
Leave  not  a  rack  behind.     We  are  such  stuff 
As  dreams  are  made  on,  and  our  little  life 
Is  rounded  with  a  sleep. 

37.  Sources  of  Shakespeare's  Plots.  It  is  interesting 
to  note  that  Shakespeare  took  material  freely  from  any 
source  that  offered  a  good  story  or  detail  adapted  to  his 
needs.  Most  of  his  English  historical  plays,  including  those 
that  dealt  with  the  early  legendary  history  of  Britain,  like 
King  Lear  and  Cymbeline,  were  based  largely .  upon  Holin- 


WILLIAM  SHAKESPEARE  147 

shed's  Chronicle.  The  plays  deaUng  with  Greek  and  Roman 
subjects  were  drawn  mainly  from  North's  translation  of 
Plutarch's  Lives.  Current  romances,  such  as  Lodge's  Rosa- 
lynde  or  Greene's  PandosfOy  were  appropriated  as  readily 
as  Italian  or  French  stories  that  appealed  to  the  poet. 
The  important  thing  to  remember  is  that  Shakespeare's 
treatment  of  the  theme  glorified  the  original  in  every  case. 
What  may  have  been  base  metal  was  transmuted  by 
his  magic  touch  to  the  pure  gold  of  art.  The  student  of 
the  plays  should  devote  some  time  to  a  comparison  of  the 
source  with  Shakespeare's  text  so  that  the  dramatist's 
genius  may  become  more  apparent. 

38.  Publication  of  the  Plays.  EHzabethan  theater-man- 
agers did  not  approve  the  printing  of  plays,  because  they  felt 
it  would  lessen  the  attendance  at  their  performances.  How- 
ever, enterprising  printers  often  managed  to  secure  more  or 
less  garbled  texts  of  the  popular  plays  and  issued  them  in 
small  quarto  form  at  about  six-pence  each.  Some  of  these 
early  quartos  are  extremely  rare  to-day,  but  they  are  most 
important  because  of  the  light  they  shed  on  the  correct 
text  of  the  play  in  question.  Sixteen  of  Shakespeare's 
plays  appeared  in  quarto  form,  and  several  were  printed  as 
often  as  five  or  six  times.  The  first  collected  edition  of  the 
plays  was  the  famous  First  Folio  of  1623,  prepared  by  two 
fellow-actors,  Heming  and  Condell.  The  Second  Folio 
appeared  in  1632,  the  Third  m  1663-1664,  the  Fourth  in 
1685.  These  four  folios  were  the  only  collected  editions  of 
Shakespeare  that  appeared  during  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury. Critical  editions  began  to  appear  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  the  most  notable  being  those  of  Rowe  (1709),  Pope 
(1725),  Theobald  (1733),  Warburton  (1747),  and  Johnson 
(1765).  In  more  modern  periods  many  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished scholars  have  devoted  their  best  talents  to  pro- 
ducing better  editions  of  the  master's  works.  The  most 
comprehensive   of  these  editions  is  the  famous  Variorum 


148  THE  ELIZABETHAN  AGE 

Shakespeare,  which  was  begun  in  1871  by  Dr.  Horace 
Howard  Furness  and  is  still  in  course  of  publication  by  his 
son  and  namesake. 

39.  Shakespeare's  Poems.  In  addition  to  his  early 
nondramatic  poems,  Venus  and  Adonis  (1593)  and  The 
Rape  of  Liicrece  (1594),  Shakespeare  also  wrote  a  series  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty-four  sonnets  which  probably  belong 
to  the  same  period,  although  they  were  not  printed  until 
1609.  They  are  a  sequence  dealing  with  love  and  include 
some  of  the  finest  sonnets  in  the  language.  Shakespeare  did 
not  follow  the  regular  form  of  sonnet  construction  as  intro- 
duced by  Wyatt,  in  which  the  normal  rhyme  scheme  was 
abbaabba  cdecde,  but  he  preserved  the  tradition  of 
fourteen  lines,  which  he  rhymed  as  follows:  abab  cdcd 
e  f  e  f  g  g.  The  Shakespearean  sonnet  may  be  illustrated 
by  this  specimen : 

Let  me  not  to  the  marriage  of  true  minds 

Admit  impediments.     Love  is  not  love 

Which  alters  when  it  alteration  finds. 

Or  bends  with  the  remover  to  remove: 

O  no!  it  is  an  ever-fixed  mark 

That  looks  on  tempests  and  is  never  shaken; 

It  is  the  star  to  every  wandering  bark. 

Whose  worth's  unknown,  although  his  height  be  taken. 

Love's  not  Time's  fool,  though  rosy  lips  and  cheeks 

Within  his  bending  sickle's  compass  come; 

Love  alters  not  with  his  brief  hours  and  weeks. 

But  bears  it  out  even  to  the  edge  of  doom. 

If  this  be  error  and  upon  me  proved, 

I  never  writ,  nor  no  man  ever  loved. 

Some  critics  have  sought  to  glean  additional  facts  con- 
cerning Shakespeare's  life  from  the  revelations  of  the  son- 
nets, but  such  analysis  should  be  undertaken  with  great 
caution,  as  the  results  may  often  lead  to  unjust  conclu- 
sions. 

40.  Characteristics.  One  of  the  fundamental  qualities 
of  Shakespeare  is  his  remarkable  knowledge  of  humanity 


WILLIAM  SHAKESPEARE  149 

—  not  the  precise  knowledge  of  the  careful  student  of 
books  or  the  patient  investigator  of  documents,  but  the 
deeper,  truer  knowledge  that  comes  from  a  close  observa- 
tion of  one's  fellow-men.  This  quality,  coupled  with  the 
poet's  unusual  imaginative  faculty,  made  him  equally  suc- 
cessful in  his  description  of  an  ancient  Roman  or  a  con- 
temporary Englishman;  of  life  in  a  palace  or  in  a  tavern. 
The  quaint  anachronisms  in  Julius  Caesar  and  the  other 
historical  plays,  as  well  as  the  limitations  of  Shakespeare's 
knowledge  of  geography  revealed  in  Twelfth  Night  and  else- 
where, are  trifling  matters  at  best.  It  is  the  infinite  variety 
of  the  scenes  that  he  conjured  up  for  our  dehght,  the  star- 
tling revelations  of  the  motives  underlying  human  conduct, 
the  insight  into  the  very  souls  of  the  characters  whom  he 
created  that  mark  Shakespeare  as  a  master.  If  from  his 
great  portrait  gallery  we  choose  a  half-dozen  varied  char- 
acters, almost  at  random  —  for  example,  Puck,  Brutus, 
Falstaff,  Cordelia,  Caliban,  and  Lady  Macbeth  —  and 
consider  how  vividly  each  of  these  stands  out  as  a  distinct 
personahty,  we  can  appreciate  more  fully  the  marvelous 
faculty  that  gave  life  and  being  to  the  hundreds  of  char- 
acters who  move  through  his  inspired  scenes. 

Moreover,  there  is  in  Shakespeare  a  fine  strain  of  sym- 
pathy for  human  weakness  —  a  charitable  disposition  to 
make  allowances  for  the  failings  that  are  common  to  all. 
Only  one  who  really  loved  his  fellow-men  could  depict  them 
with  such  fidelity.  His  well-developed  sense  of  humor,  so 
much  in  evidence  in  most  of  his  plays,  is  quite  in  keeping 
with  his  own  broad  humanity.  In  many  an  instance  he 
pointed  a  moral  all  the  more  effectively  by  means  of  laughter 
than  by  precept  or  solemn  admonition.  Perhaps  the  most 
notable  trait  of  Shakespeare  is  the  fine  ethical  sense  that 
runs  throughout  his  work  —  a  recognition  of  divinely  in- 
stituted laws  and  the  suffering  that  attends  their  violation. 
Human  faults  and  weaknesses  are  presented  as  the  chains 


150 


THE  ELIZABETHAN  AGE 


that  shackle  great  spirits  to  the  earth.  Base  and  ignoble 
passions  are  depicted  not  merely  as  abhorrent  in  themselves, 
but  as  the  cause  of  much  suffering  and  misery  to  the  inno- 
cent who  may  happen  to  be  caught  in  the  toils.  Small 
wonder  that  innumerable  quotations  from  Shakespeare 
have  become  commonplaces  on  our  lips  and  that  his  works  are 
regarded  as  second  in  moral  influence  to  the  Bible  alone. 

Hundreds  of  volumes 
have  been  written  to 
illustrate  the  qualities 
that  make  Shakespeare 
the  most  admired  of 
writers.  There  is  danger 
that  we  may  spend  too 
much  time  in  reading 
about  Shakespeare  in- 
stead of  letting  his  own 
great  utterance  speak  for 
itself.  It  is  a  mistake  to 
suppose  that  he  must  be 
laboriously  studied  with 
learned  commentary  to 
be  appreciated.  His 
own  aim,  first  and  last, 
was  to  entertain  the 
people  who  flocked  to  see 
his  plays  performed.  On  the  printed  page  his  plays  will 
still  entertain,  in  spite  of  learned  notes  and  ponderous  **  in- 
troductions'* that  may  be  judiciously  skipped.  Great  art 
always  transcends  its  analysis  and  its  interpretation;  no 
critic  can  speak  for  Shakespeare  as  effectively  as  our  supreme 
dramatist  can  speak  for  himself.  Every  student  should 
read  widely  in  those  great  plays  and  should  get  to  know 
Shakespeare;  for  to  know  him  is  to  love  him,  and  literature 
can  offer  no  greater  boon. 


Shakespeare's  Tomb 


BEN  JONSON 


151 


41.  Ben  Jonson  (1573-163 7).  The  most  distinguished  of 
all  the  dramatists  who  wrote  during  the  Age  of  Elizabeth  was 
Ben  Jonson.  His  varied  career  extended  from  the  heyday 
of  the  drama  until  the  period  of  its  decline.  The  stepson  of 
a  bricklayer,  he  managed  to  secure  an  education  at  Westmin- 
ster School  and  served  as  a  soldier  in  the  Low  Countries.  He 
took  pride  in  the  fact  that  he  had  killed  an  enemy  in  single 
combat.  Later  he  became  an  actor,  then  a  dramatist.  In 
1598  he  killed  a  fellow-actor  in  a  duel  and  had  a  narrow 
escape  from  the  gallows  by  pleading  "benefit  of  clergy." 
Although  both  training  and  temperament  inclined  his  sym- 
pathies toward  the  classical  ten- 
dencies in  the  English  drama,  his 
decision  was  unwise,  and  posterity 
rendered  its  verdict  against  him 
and  his  kind.  He  was  a  more 
accomplished  scholar  than  Shake- 
speare, but  he  had  the  instinct  to 
recognize  the  greatness  of  Shake 
speare  and  praised  him  freely. 
Like  the  Samuel  Johnson  of  a  later 
period,  Ben  Jonson  was  a  man  of 
huge  frame,  very  self-assertive  in  Ben  Jonson 

his  criticism  of  others,  and  a  recog- 
nized leader  in  his  literary  group,  who  accepted  him  as 
the  most  learned  of  poets.  When  he  died  in  1637  after  a 
literary  dictatorship  covering  a  quarter  century,  he  was 
buried  with  high  honors  in  Westminster  Abbey,  and  the 
epitaph,  *'0  rare  Ben  Jonson,"  was  carved  on  the  slab  over 
his  grave. 

42.  Principal  Works.  Among  his  more  important  plays 
are  Every  Man  in  His  Humor  (1598),  in  which  Shakespeare 
appeared  as  an  actor;  Every  Man  out  of  His  Humor  (1599); 
Cynthia  s  Revels  (1600);  The  Poetaster  (1601);  Sejanus 
(1603);     Volpone  (1605);    Epicene   (1609);     The  Alchemist 


152  THE  ELIZABETHAN  AGE 

(1610);  Catiline  (1611);  and  Bartholomew  Fair  (1614). 
His  plays  that  have  an  EngUsh  setting  abound  in  satire  and 
show  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  life  of  his  age.  The 
Roman  tragedies,  unlike  those  of  Shakespeare,  give  ample 
evidence  of  his  painstaking  efforts  to  secure  historical 
accuracy.  Jonson*s  plots  are  usually  well  constructed  and 
are  regarded  as  models  of  dramatic  art.  During  the  reigns 
of  James  I  and  Charles  I  he  wrote  many  masques  for  pres- 
entation at  Court.  These  masques  combined  lyrical  and 
dramatic  elements,  and  were  usually  produced  with  fine 
costumes  and  elaborate  stage-settings.  In  his  own  time 
Jonson  was  accounted  a  greater  writer  than  Shakespeare, 
but  his  plays,  like  those  of  the  minor  Elizabethans,  are 
neglected  by  readers  to-day  and  are  never  produced  pro- 
fessionally. He  is  better  remembered  by  the  world  at  large 
for  his  song,  "Drink  to  me  only  with  thine  eyes,"  than  for 
all  the  plays  he  wrote  during  his  long  career. 

43.  Beaumont  and  Fletcher.  The  most  interesting  lit- 
erary partnership  in  the  Elizabethan  drama  was  that  of 
Francis  Beaumont  (1584-1616)  and  John  Fletcher  (1579-1625). 
Most  of  the  other  dramatists,  including  Shakespeare,  collab- 
orated at  times  with  their  fellows,  but  this  pair  worked 
together  in  most  of  their  plays  up  to  the  time  of  Beaumont's 
death.  They  wrote  successfully  in  every  dramatic  form 
that  was  popular  during  the  period.  As  many  as  fifty-two 
plays  are  usually  printed  as  their  collected  works.  Among 
the  best  are  Philaster,  The  Maid's  Tragedy,  The  Faithful 
Shepherdess,  and  The  Two  Noble  Kinsmen.  Shakespeare 
is  believed  to  have  had  a  hand  in  the  last-mentioned 
play,  which  tells  the  same  story  as  Chaucer's  Knighfs 
Tale. 

44.  Other  Dramatists.  There  are  fully  a  dozen  names 
of  notable  dramatists  who  labored  side  by  side  with  the 
great  leaders  in  building  up  the  glory  of  the  Elizabethan 
drama.    George  Chapman  (1559P-1634),  already  spoken  of  as 


DECtlNE  OF  THE  DRAMA  153 

a  translator  of  Homer,  wrote  many  plays,  including  a  group 
of  tragedies  dealing  with  contemporary  French  history. 
John  Marston  (1575P-1634)  was  a  satiric  dramatist  whose 
best  work  is  in  the  misanthropic  and  cynical  spirit  of  Shake- 
speare's neglected  plays  of  the  Third  Period.  Philip  Massinger 
(1583-1640)  was  a  playwright  of  great  ability  who  had  the 
distinction  of  writing  A  New  Way  to  Pay  Old  Debts,  which 
continued  to  be  produced  long  after  other  Elizabethan  plays 
had  passed  into  disuse.  John  Ford  (1586-1640?)  was  another 
dramatist  of  merit  and  produced  The  Broken  Heart,  one  of 
the  most  pathetic  plays  of  that  age.  Thomas  Dekker 
(1570P-1641?),  Thomas  Middleton  (1570.?-1627),  and  Thomas 
Haywood  (1570 ?-l 650. f^)  may  be  associated  as  a  trio  born 
about  the  same  time  and  bearing  the  same  given  name. 
They  wrote  many  popular  plays  dealing  with  contemporary 
domestic  manners  in  the  middle  and  lower  classes  of  society, 
a  style  very  largely  ignored  by  Shakespeare.  John  Webster 
(1580P-1625?)  and  Cyril  Toumeur  (1575  P-1626.?)  were  men  of 
whom  little  is  known,  who  wrote  bloody  tragedies  abounding 
in  violent  scenes,  yet  enriched  by  the  most  imaginative 
poetry.  Webster's  The  Duchess  of  Malfi  and  The  White 
Devil  rank  among  the  most  significant  of  EUzabethan 
plays. 

45.  Decline  of  the  Drama.  During  the  reign  of  Charles  I 
there  was  a  manifest  decline  in  the  moral  tone  of  the  drama. 
Even  where  the  playwrights  showed  the  brilliant  genius 
of  an  earher  age,  they  usually  disclosed  a  willingness  to 
cater  to  the  growing  vulgarity  of  the  period.  There  had 
always  been  marked  antagonism  to  the  theater  on  the  part 
of  the  Puritan  element,  and  this  opposition  now  asserted 
itself  more  strongly.  The  last  of  the  old  group  of  drama- 
tists was  James  Shirley  (1596-1666),  a  playwright  of  com- 
paratively minor  importance,  who  lived  to  see  not  only  the 
closing  of  the  theaters  in  1642,  but  their  reopening  with  the 
Restoration    in    1660.    During    the    intervening    eighteen 


154  THE  ELIZABETHAN  AGE 

years  no  public  dramatic  performances  were  permitted  in 
England.  When  the  theaters  were  once  more  opened  with 
the  coming  of  Charles  II,  the  conditions  were  very  different 
from  those  that  had  made  the  Elizabethan  drama  one  of 
the  greatest  imaginative  outbursts  in  all  literature. 


CHAPTER   VI 


THE  PURITAN  AGE 


1.  An  Age  of  Austerity.  After  the  abundant  inspiration 
of  the  EHzabethan  Age  had  exhausted  itself,  there  followed 
a  period  of  literary  repression  for  which  the  Puritans  were 
largely  responsible.  Even  during  the  care-free  days  of 
Elizabeth  they  had  frowned  upon  the  frivolities  of  romance 
and  poetry,  and  had  denounced  the  growing  license  of  the 
stage.  The  Puritans  were  not  a  particular  religious  sect, 
as  among  them  were  found  men  representing  all  shades  of 
belief,  but  they  consti- 
tuted the  more  austere 
element  in  society,  who 
held  that  man's  chief 
purpose  was  to  follow 
the  straight  and  narrow 
path  of  duty  as  they 
conceived  it.  During 
the  somber  reign  of 
James     I     (1603-1625) 

they  were  in  the  ascendency  for  a  time,  but  under  his  son 
Charles  I  (1625-1649),  who  claimed  to  rule  by  divine  right 
and  who  favored  the  pleasure-loving  Cavaliers,  they  met 
with  such  opposition  and  ridicule  that  bitter  conflict  de- 
veloped between  the  two  parties.  This  strife  led  eventually 
to  the  Civil  War,  the  execution  of  the  King,  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Commonwealth  in  1649  with  Oliver  Crom- 
well as  Protector. 

With  all  its  fine  ideals  and  stern  principles  of  conduct, 

155 


London  Bridge  in  the  17th  Century 


156  THE  PURITAN  AGE 

Puritanism  unfortunately  represented  the  spirit  of  intoler- 
ance. Its  attitude  was  narrow  and  uncompromising.  Such 
a  force,  no  matter  how  sincere,  was  not  good  for  literary 
development.  It  imposed  a  restraint  that  stifled  inspira- 
tion and  produced  in  place  of  the  imaginative  flights  of  the 
great  Elizabethans  a  more  labored  expression  of  ideas 
based  rather  upon  moral  duty  than  upon  emotional  stimulus. 
Naturally  not  all  of  England  was  prepared  to  follow  and  to 
be  restrained  by  such  traditions.  The  Cavalier  Poets  still 
glorified  the  beauty  of  life  and  nature,  but  they  were  among 
the  less  important  writers  of  the  age.  Only  two  great 
names  —  Milton  and  Bunyan  —  belong  to  this  period  of 
Puritan  ascendency. 

PROSE   OF  THE   PURITAN   AGE 

2.  The  King  James  Bible.  Early  in  the  reign  of  James  I 
the  question  of  a  new,  authoritative  translation  of  the  Bible 
was  discussed.  Conferences  were  held  at  Hampton  Court 
to  agree  upon  a  plan  of  procedure.  As  a  result  fifty-four 
scholars  were  selected  to  undertake  the  work.  For  three 
years  they  labored  at  Oxford,  Cambridge,  and  elsewhere  in 
England  on  their  respective  parts  of  the  important  task. 
Finally,  in  1611,  they  completed  their  work  and  brought 
out  the  "King  James"  Bible,  or  the  Authorized  Version, 
as  it  is  frequently  called.  Although  various  revisions  of 
the  Bible  have  been  undertaken  in  later  times,  the  King 
James  Bible  continues  to  this  day  to  hold  the  place  of  favor 
throughout  the  English-speaking  world.  None  of  the  con- 
tributors was  a  prominent  literary  man,  though  many  of 
them  held  high  ecclesiastical  places,  yet  collectively  they 
succeeded  in  producing  a  scriptural  version  that  is  un- 
rivaled for  simplicity  of  phrasing,  for  beauty  of  expression, 
and  for  literary  dignity.  No  other  book  has  exerted  so 
great  an  influence  upon  the  style  of  later  prose  writers. 


PROSE  OF  THE   PURITAN  AGE 


157 


3.  Jeremy  Taylor  (1613-1667).  Among  the  stanch  Roy- 
alists of  the  period  was  Jeremy  Taylor,  author  of  several 
theological  works.  The  best  of  these  were  Holy  Living 
(1650)  and  Holy  Dying  (1651).  These  companion  books, 
in  spite  of  their  forbidding  titles,  are  very  readable  treatises 
on  the  conduct  of  life  and  preparation  for  the  world  to  come. 
In  fact,  Holy  Dying  is  far  more  entertaining  than  Holy 
Living.  They  are  written  in  rather  florid  prose,  with  a 
fine  sense  of  rhythm.  Coleridge  called  Taylor  the  most 
eloquent  of  divines,  and  those  of  his  own  day  testified  to  his 
force  in  the  pulpit. 

4.  Izaak  Walton  (1593-1683).  Few  men  ever  got  more 
calm  pleasure  out  of  a  long  life  than  Izaak  Walton,  linen- 
draper  of  London.  Having 
achieved  a  competence  at  fifty, 
he  retired  to  the  country  and 
began  a  period  of  literary 
recreation  by  writing  his  graceful 
Lives,  which  were  intimate  pic- 
tures of  Donne,  Hooker,  Herbert, 
and  other  contemporaries.  At 
sixty  he  brought  out  his  master- 
piece. The  Compleat  Angler 
(1653),  which  has  lived  through 
several  hundred  editions  and  is 
more  widely  read  to-day  than  all 
other  books  on  fishing  put  to- 
gether. His  advice  to  anglers 
is  not  always  above  criticism, 
and  his  recipes  for  cooking  fish  have  sometimes  more 
literary  than  culinary  merit;  but  it  is  a  book  brimful  of  the 
love  of  nature,  an  exquisite  appreciation  of  the  beauty  of 
field  and  stream,  of  the  open  expanse  of  God's  country,  and 
of  the  heavens  overhead.  No  modern  devotee  of  nature 
has  given  us  a  more  charming  picture  of  the  great  world  of 
out-of-doors. 


Izaak  Walton 


158  THE   PURITAN  AGE 

5.  Thomas  Fuller  (1608-1661).  Fuller  was  an  Episcopa- 
lian clergyman  who  had  such  a  wonderful  memory  that  he 
was  spoken  of  as  a  "walking  library."  He  produced  a  great 
number  of  books,  including  a  Church  History  of  England 
(1655)  and  a  History  of  Cambridge  University  (1655),  but 
nothing  of  more  lasting  interest  than  his  History  of  the 
Worthies  of  England  (1662).  It  is  a  pity  that  this  rather 
commonplace  title  gives  no  hint  of  the  wealth  of  humor 
that  characterizes  this  admirable  book.  One  does  not 
ordinarily  look  for  humor  in  theological  writers,  yet  Fuller 
may  fairly  be  regarded  as  the  first  of  England's  prose  writers 
to  make  a  feature  of  humor.  He  it  was  who  spoke  of  negroes 
as  "images  of  God,  cut  in  ebony'*  and  who  wrote:  "Few 
are  such"  infidels  as  not  to  believe  doctrines  which  make  for 
their  own  profit."  Concerning  garlic  he  said:  "Indeed 
the  scent  thereof  is  somewhat  valiant  and  offensive;  but 
wise  men  will  be  contented  to  hold  their  noses,  on  condition 
they  may  thereby  hold  or  recover  their  health."  When 
Fuller  finally  undertook  to  compose  his  own  epitaph,  he 
wrote  simply,  "Here  lies  Fuller's  earth." 

6.  Sir  Thomas  Browne  (1605-1682).  Another  writer 
of  quaint  English  was  Sir  Thomas  Browne,  a  graduate  of 
Winchester  School  and  Oxford,  who  later  studied  medicine 
in  France  and  Italy.  There  was  much  of  the  Puritan  spirit 
about  his  Religio  Medici  (1642)  which  undertook  to  describe 
the  religion  of  a  physician.  It  is  read  to-day  not  for  its 
presentation  of  theological  opinion,  but  for  its  charm  and 
grace  of  style.  His  Vulgar  Errors  (1646)  is  a  curious  book 
full  of  all  manner  of  odd  information.  It  discusses  solemnly 
whether  elephants  have  joints;  whether  salamanders  live 
in  fire;  whether  ostriches  digest  iron;  whether  peacocks 
are  ashamed  of  their  legs;  whether  storks  will  live  only  in 
republics  or  free  states;  and  whether  a  man  weighs  more 
dead  or  alive.  He  also  gives  vivid  pictures  of  the  basilisk, 
the  phoenix,  the  grifl&n,  the  unicorn,  and  other  interesting 


JOHN  BUNYAN 


159 


creatures.  Hydriotaphiay  or  Urn  Burial  (1658)  is  a  dis- 
cussion of  methods  employed  in  disposing  of  the  dead. 
Apart  from  its  learned  account  of  funeral  ceremonials  and 
its  discussion  of  immortality,  this  treatise  is  remarkable  for 
its  sonorous  prose  and  its  dignified  cadences.  It  reveals 
Browne's  command  of  the  language  at  its  very  best,  notably 
his  skill  in  an  ornate,  grandiloquent  style  that  is  still  inter- 
esting to  critics  of  literary  art. 


JOHN   BUNYAN  (1628-1688) 

7.  Bunyan's  Life.  In  the  little  village  of  Elstow  in 
Bedfordshire  there  dwelt  a  man  named  Thomas  Bunyan, 
who  was  a  brazier,  or 
mender  of  pans  and 
small  metal-ware.  When 
his  son  John  was  born 
in  1628  the  boy  was 
brought  up  to  follow  the 
same  ignoble  trade. 
Young  Bunyan  had  only 
the  briefest  of  schooling 
and  was  not  especially 
devout  during  his  boy- 
hood.  He  was  ap- 
parently more  interested 
in  ballads  and  old 
romances  at  that  time 
than  in  the  Bible.  When 
Bunyan  was  sixteen, 
his  father,  who  had 
become  a  widower,  mar- 
ried again.  Bunyan  re- 
sented his  father's  action  and  enlisted  as  a  soldier  in  the  Civil 
War,  but  he  served  only  a  short  time.  At  twenty  Bunyan 
married,  though  he  and  his  wife  were  quite  without  means 


John  Bunyan 


160  THE  PURITAN  AGE 

His  wife,  however,  was  influential  in  urging  him  to  lead  a  godly 
life  and  to  read  pious  books.  Bunyan  became  very  religious 
and  looked  back  with  horror  upon  what  he  regarded  as  his 
wicked  youth,  though  his  offenses  had  probably  been  of  a 
trivial  character.  His  conscience  troubled  him  sorely  until 
he  joined  the  church.  A  few  years  later  he  became  a  wander- 
ing preacher  and  exhorted  people  fervently  to  give  up  their 
sinful  ways.  His  faithful  wife  died  about  the  same  time, 
leaving  in  his  care  four  young  children,  one  of  whom  was 
blind.  He  continued  in  his  religious  work  until  1660  when, 
shortly  after  the  Restoration,  he  was  arrested  for  preaching 
without  sanction.  He  was  taken  to  Bedford  jail  where  he 
was  confined  until  1672,  when  Charles  II  suspended  all 
penal  statutes  against  Dissenters.  After  gaining  his  free- 
dom he  devoted  himself  entirely  to  preaching  and  to  the 
writing  of  religious  books.  The  authorities  did  not  molest 
him  much  during  his  later  life,  except  for  his  arrest  in  1675, 
when  he  spent  another  six  months  in  Bedford  jail.  It  was 
during  this  second  imprisonment  that  he  was  supposed  to 
have  written  a  portion  of  Pilgrim's  Progress,  but  there  is  no 
evidence  that  this  great  work  was  really  written  in  jail. 
At  times  he  preached  in  London  to  large  groups  of  persons, 
but  he  preferred  to  work  among  his  own  people  in  Bedford. 
He  died  in  1688  and  was  buried  in  Bunhill  Fields,  London. 

8.  Literary  Work.  In  spite  of  his  meager  schoohng, 
Bunyan  wrote  some  sixty  works,  mostly  of  a  religious 
character.  His  masterpiece  is  Pilgrim's  Progress  (1678), 
which  was  translated  into  almost  every  language  of  the 
globe  and  achieved  a  popularity  second  only  to  the  Bible. 
In  The  Life  and  Death  of  Mr.  B adman  (1680)  Bunyan  pre- 
sented a  character  who  was  the  exact  opposite  of  his  hero 
in  Pilgrim's  Progress.  Mr.  Wiseman  relates  to  Mr.  Atten- 
tive how  Mr.  Badman  followed  the  easy  road  to  perdition. 
It  is  a  vivid  picture  of  contemporary  manners  and  anticipates 
the  convincing  realism  of  DeFoe's  stories.     Bunyan  also 


JOHN  BUNYAN 


161 


wrote  The  Holy  War  (1682),  which  represents  the  soul  as 
besieged  and  withstanding  the  forces  of  evil.  A  second 
part  of  Pilgrim's  Progress,  telUng  how  Christian's  wife 
Christiana  journeyed  with  her  children  to  the  Celestial 
City,  appeared  in  1684. 

9.  Pilgrim's  Progress.  There  is  probably  no  more 
fascinating  story  in  rehgious  literature  than  that  of  Chris- 
tian's perilous  journey  from 
the  City  of  Destruction  to 
the  Kingdom  of  Everlasting 
Life — an  allegory  so  obvious 
that  any  child  can  under- 
stand and  enjoy  it.  Yet 
Bunyan  himseK  would  have 
grieved  at  the  thought  that 
posterity  would  regard  his 
book  as  entertaining.  He 
wrote  with  singleness  of 
purpose  to  point  out  the  one 
hard  road  to  salvation  amid 
the  many  besetting  perils 
and  temptations  that  might 
lure  the  pilgrim  from  the 
true  path.  Had  Bunyan 
been  a  man  of  scholarly 
training  he  might  have  suc- 
ceeded in  making  his  book 
so  insufferably  dull  that  it 
would   have   passed   quietly 

into  oblivion  with  the  thousands  of  other  uninspired  works 
of  that  kind.  His  equipment  for  the  task  he  undertook  was 
ideal.  He  was  a  fervent,  earnest  spirit  and  he  knew  his 
Bible  very  well.  He  wrote  as  he  spoke  —  the  plain,  racy, 
idiomatic  English  of  his  day.  Bunyan  had  the  instinctive 
art  of  the  teller  of  good  tales.     His  Pilgrim's  Progress  so 


Bunyan's  Dream 


162  THE  PURITAN  AGE 

completely  overshadows  his  other  work  that  such  stories 
as  The  Life  and  Death  of  Mr.  Badman  have  not  yet  received 
full  credit  for  their  significance  in  the  development  of  English 
fiction. 

POETRY   OF  THE   PURITAN   AGE 

10.  John  Donne  (1573-1631).  Donne  was  an  ingenious 
writer  who  had  a  varied  career  as  freebooter,  poet,  pamphlet- 
eer, and  preacher.  He  studied  at  Oxford,  helped  the  Earl 
of  Essex  to  loot  the  Spanish  treasure  ships,  was  imprisoned 
for  marrying  the  daughter  of  Sir  George  More  without  her 
father's  consent,  and  finally  became  dean  of  St.  Paul's 
Cathedral.  He  is  principally  remembered  as  the  leader  of 
a  group  of  so-called  "metaphysical  poets"  who  delighted 
in  quaint  conceits  and  far-fetched  abstractions  with  which 
they  interlarded  their  verse.  For  the  rich  emotional  quahty 
of  Elizabethan  poets  Donne  and  his  followers  substituted  a 
fantastic  intellectual  strain  that  was  often  extremely  clever, 
yet  failed  to  stir  the  feelings  of  most  readers.  In  his  desire 
to  achieve  novel  effect  Donne  did  not  hesitate  to  describe 
the  unity  of  two  loving  souls  in  these  words: 

Our  two  souls  therefore,  which  are  one 
Though  I  must  go,  endure  not  yet 
A  breach,  but  an  expansion. 
Like  gold  to  airy  thinness  beat. 

If  they  be  two,  they  are  two  so 
As  stiff  twin  compasses  are  two. 
Thy  soul,  the  fix'd  foot,  makes  no  show 
To  move,  but  doth,  if  th'other  do. 

And  though  it  in  the  center  sit, 
Yet  when  the  other  far  doth  roam. 
It  leans  and  hearkens  after  it. 
And  grows  erect  as  that  comes  home. 

So  wilt  thou  be  to  me,  who  must 
Like  th'other  foot,  obliquely  run, 
Thy  firmness  makes  my  circle  just. 
And  makes  me  end  where  I  begun. 


POETRY  OF  THE   PURITAN  AGE  163 

Some  readers  are  attracted  by  such  verse,  as  they  enjoy 
being  surprised  at  intervals  by  some  unexpected  twist  of 
thought  or  expression. 

11.  Religious  Poets.  Somewhat  later  than  Donne  came 
three  rehgious  poets  who  attained  fame  in  their  day.  George 
Herbert  (1593-1633),  by  far  the  best  of  this  group,  was  a 
graduate  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  and  an  Episcopal 
rector  at  Bemerton.  His  collection  of  verse  called  The 
Temple  (1633)  contains  some  lovely  meditative  poems 
expressing  a  deep  and  sincere  piety.  Frequently,  however, 
he  followed  the  questionable  example  of  Donne  in  writing 
the  most  eccentric  conceits  into  his  poems.  At  his  best  he 
gave  us  such  beautiful  poetry  as  thisf 

Love  bade  me  welcome;  yet  my  soul  drew  back. 

Guilty  of  dust  and  sin. 
But  quick-ey'd  Love,  observing  me  grow  slack 

From  my  first  entrance  in. 
Drew  nearer  to  me,  sweetly  questioning 

If  I  lack'd  anything. 

He  is  far  less  admirable  when  he  resorts  to  silly  conceits, 
as  in  his  poem  Paradise^  where  in  each  of  the  five  stanzas  the 
final  word  of  each  verse  is  the  final  word  of  the  preceding 
verse  with  the  initial  letter  omitted: 

I  bless  Thee,  Lord,  because  I  GROW 
Among  thy  trees,  which  in  a  ROW 
To  Thee  both  fruit  and  order  OW. 

What  open  force  or  hidden  CHARM 
Can  blast  my  fruit,  or  bring  me  HARM 
While  the  enclosure  is  Thine  ARM? 

Henry  Vaughan  (1622-1695),  a  Welsh  physician  who  was 
graduated  at  Jesus  College,  Oxford,  was  strongly  influenced 
by  Herbert  and  seemed  to  be  at  his  best  in  the  spiritual  inter- 
pretation of  nature,  in  which  he  occasionally  anticipated 
the  mood  of  Wordsworth.     Richard  Crashaw  (1612P-1649) 


164  THE  PURITAN  AGE 

was  a  Cambridge  graduate  who  became  a  Roman  Catholic 
and  who  produced  some  remarkable  mystical  poems.  He 
came  directly  under  the  influence  of  Donne  and,  like  Herbert, 
occasionally  marred  his  verse  by  the  intrusion  of  some 
labored  conceit.  In  one  of  his  poems  he  referred  to  the 
eyes  of  Mary  Magdalene  as 

Two  walking  baths,  two  weeping  motions, 
Portable  and  compendious  oceans. 

12.  The  Caroline  Poets.  Among  the  poets  who  wrote 
during  the  reign  of  Charles  I  and  were  therefore  called  the 
"Caroline  Poets"  was  a  group  who  sympathized  with  the 
Royalist  party  or  Cavaliers.  Instead  of  reflecting  the  Puri- 
tan austerity  of  the  age,  their  verse  reveals  a  very  different 
source  of  inspiration.  They  sang  mostly  of  the  beauty  of  life 
and  youth,  and  the  transitoriness  of  much  that  is  pleasing 
in  this  world;  they  urged  their  readers  to  make  the  most 
of  whatever  joy  came  their  way  and  to  let  the  morrow  take 
care  of  itself.  Among  these  Cavalier  lyrists  was  Robert 
Herrick  (1591-1674),  at  once  a  pagan  and  a  country  parson, 
who  wrote  a  vast  number  of  short  poems  which  he  collected 
under  the  title  Hesperides  (1648).  Towards  the  close  of  his 
long  life  he  repented  of  his  early  frivolity  and  produced  a 
volume  of  commendable  sacred  verse  entitled  Noble  Num- 
bers. We  have  pathetic  record  of  this  unhappy  bachelor, 
dwelling  in  a  dull  Devonshire  parish  with  his  remarkable 
array  of  live  stock;  his  cat,  his  spaniel,  his  lamb,  his  goose, 
his  hen  that  faithfully  laid  an  egg  every  day,  and  most 
remarkable  of  all,  his  learned  pig  that  joined  him  in  drinking 
beer  out  of  his  own  tankard.  Herrick  is  at  his  best  in  what 
he  calls  his  "wild  unbaptized  rhymes"  in  voicing  such  senti- 
ments as 

Gather  ye  rosebuds  while  ye  may: 
Old  Time  is  still  a-flying; 

And  this  same  flower  that  smiles  to-day. 
To-morrow  will  be  dying. 


POETRY  OF  THE  PURITAN  AGE  165 

or  in  this  variation  of  the  same  thought : 

Come,  let  us  go,  while  we  are  in  our  prime; 
And  take  the  harmless  folly  of  the  time! 
We  shall  grow  old  apace,  and  die 
Before  we  know  our  liberty. 

In  his  less  joyous  moments  of  repentance  he  wrote: 

In  the  hour  of  my  distress, 
When  temptations  me  oppress. 
And  when  I  my  sins  confess. 
Sweet  Spirit,  comfort  me! 

Thomas  Carew  (1598P-1639?)  was  the  author  of  several 
exquisite  lyrics  dealing  with  youth  and  love,  but  little  is 
known  of  his  career.  In  his  happier  moments  he  sang  in 
this  strain: 

Ask  me  no  more  where  Jove  bestows. 

When  June  is  past,  the  fading  rose, 

For  in  your  beauty's  orient  deep 

These  flowers,  as  in  their  causes,  sleep. 

At  other  times  he  did  not  hesitate  to  follow  the  bad  example 

of  Donne : 

No  more  the  frost 
Candies  the  grass,  or  casts  an  icy  cream 
Upon  the  silver  lake  or  crystal  stream. 

Sir  John  Suckling  (1609-1642)  was  a  Cambridge  man  who 
led  a  wild  life  as  wit  and  courtier,  and  who  finally  com- 
mitted suicide  in  Paris.  He  wrote  several  unimportant 
plays,  but  is  best  remembered  for  his  songs,  especially  his 
Ballad  on  a  Wedding  and  the  lyric  beginning  "Why  so  pale 
and  wan,  fond  lover .^"  Richard  Lovelace  (1618-1658)  was 
an  Oxford  graduate  and  for  a  time  in  favor  at  Court.  By 
many  he  was  accounted  the  handsomest  man  of  his  time. 
His  devotion  to  the  Royalist  cause  resulted  in  his  imprison- 
ment and  his  death  in  extreme  poverty  at  the  early  age  o£ 
forty.     He  has  an  assured  place  in  the  hearts  of  all  lovers 


166  THE  PURITAN  AGE 

of  good  poetry  because  of  his  two  songs,  To  Lucasta,  on 
Going  to  the  Wars  and  To  Altheay  from  Prison.  In  the  first 
we  find  the  immortal  couplet: 

I  could  not  love  thee,  dear,  so  much. 
Loved  I  not  honor  more. 

In  the  second  is  the  equally  famous  passage : 

Stone  walls  do  not  a  prison  make 
Nor  iron  bars  a  cage. 

The  Cavalier  Poets  wrote  for  the  most  part  in  trivial  vein 
concerning  the  delights  of  spring,  the  beauty  of  their  adored 
sweethearts,  or  the  pleasures  of  the  flowing  bowl.  Their 
poetry  was  in  sharp  contrast  with  the  lofty  utterance  of  the 
one  great  Puritan  poet  of  that  age,  whose  life  and  works 
both  repudiated  the  selfish  doctrine  that  makes  pleasure  the 
chief  aim  of  existence. 


JOHN   MILTON  (1608-1674) 

13.  Youth  and  Education.  During  Shakespeare's  later 
years  in  London  he  probably  traversed  very  often  on  his 
walks  between  his  lodging  and  the  Globe  Theater  a  narrow 
thoroughfare  in  Cheapside  called  Bread  Street,  where  lived 
a  scrivener  or  notary  named  John  Milton.  This  Milton 
was  an  Oxfordshire  man  who  had  settled  in  London  and  had 
prospered  there.  He  took  an  interest  in  literature  and 
music,  and  composed  several  song-tunes.  His  wife,  Sarah 
Jeffreys,  was  a  refined  woman  of  good  social  position  and 
much  interested  in  charitable  work  among  the  poor.  The 
third  of  their  six  children  was  born  on  December  9,  1608  and 
was  named  John  after  the  father.  Everything  was  done  to 
give  the  youth  the  best  education  that  the  day  afforded. 
He  attended  St.  Paul's  School  near  his  home  and  had  like- 
wise a  private  tutor.     He  learned  music  and  modern  Ian- 


JOHN  MILTON 


167 


guages  as  well  as  the  classics.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he 
entered  Christ  College,  Cambridge,  and  soon  won  repute  as 
a  zealous,  capable  student.  Even  in  his  college  days  he 
entertained  the  noble  ambition  of  writing  a  *'work  which 
the  world  will  not  wiUingly  let  die.'*  He  was  still  at  college 
in  1629,  when  he  began 
his  majestic  ode,  On  the 
Morning  of  ChrisVs 
Nativity^  the  first  of 
the  fine  lyrical  poems 
that  he  produced  dur- 
ing his  early  Hterary 
period.  At  the  univer- 
sity Milton  was  called 
"the  lady  of  Christ's" 
because  of  his  almost 
feminine  beauty  of 
countenance  and  his 
purity  of  character. 
He  spent  seven  years 
at  Cambridge,  taking 
both  the  B.A.  and  M.A. 
degrees.  Thus  he  en- 
joyed the  scholarly  associations  of  his  college  until  he  was 
nearly  twenty-four. 

14.  The  First  Period  (1632-1638).  After  leaving  Cam- 
bridge Milton  was  still  undecided  as  to  his  career.  He  did 
not  care  for  law,  and  the  church  was  likewise  lacking  in 
attraction.  The  years  from  1632  to  1638  were  spent  at 
Horton,  his  father's  beautiful  country  place  near  the  Thames, 
not  far  from  Windsor.  There  he  lived  in  ideal  detachment 
from  the  busy  world,  reading  the  classics  and  wandering 
about  the  region.  Although  these  years  at  Cambridge  and 
Horton  were  important  in  the  shaping  of  his  character, 
Milton  himself  felt  that  he  was  not  using  his  time  to  best 


John  Milton 


168  THE  PURITAN  AGE 

advantage.     The  sonnet  which  he  wrote  on  his  twenty- 
third  birthday  voices  his  dissatisfaction: 

How  soon  hath  Time,  the  subtle  thief  of  youth, 

Stol'n  on  his  wing  my  three-and-twentieth  year! 

My  hasting  days  fly  on  with  full  career. 

But  my  late  spring  no  bud  or  blossom  shew'th. 

Perhaps  my  semblance  might  deceive  the  truth. 
That  I  to  manhood  am  arrived  so  near. 
And  inward  ripeness  doth  much  less  appear. 
Than  some  more  timely-happy  spirits  indu'th. 

Yet  be  it  less  or  more,  or  soon  or  slow. 

It  shall  be  still  in  strictest  measure  even 
To  that  same  lot,  however  mean  or  high, 

Tow'rd  which  time  leads  me,  and  the  will  of  heaven; 
All  is,  if  I  have  grace  to  use  it  so. 
As  ever  in  my  great  task-master's  eye. 

Yet  he  spent  the  six  ensuing  years  in  the  meditative,  retired 
life,  unconsciously  strengthening  his  spirit  for  the  tempes- 
tuous days  that  were  to  come  later.  During  this  period  he 
wrote  the  beautiful  companion  poems,  V Allegro  and  // 
PenserosOy  which  have  always  been  greatly  admired  as  con- 
trasted poetic  studies  of  the  cheerful  man  and  the  contem- 
plative man.  They  have  been  interpreted  as  pictures  of  the 
sharply  distinct  sides  of  Milton's  own  character;  his  natu- 
ral and  deep-seated  joy  in  the  beauty  of  the  world,  and  his 
noble  conception  of  the  intellectual  and  spiritual  existence. 
In  1634,  when  the  Earl  of  Bridgewater  became  President 
of  Wales,  an  invitation  was  sent  to  Milton  to  write  a  masque 
or  entertainment  in  which  the  Earl's  three  children,  a  daugh- 
ter and  two  sons,  might  take  part.  He  accordingly  pro- 
duced the  charming  masque  Comus,  which  is  the  most 
ambitious  of  his  earlier  works.  There  is  perhaps  too  much 
moralizing  in  this  little  play,  but  it  endures  because  of  its 
graceful  imagery  and  the  musical  quality  of  its  verse.  About 
the  simple  story  of  three  children  lost  in  the  woods  Milton 
wove  a  pretty  story  showing  the  certain  triumph  of  good 


JOHN   MILTON  169 

over  evil.     The  lesson  of  the  masque  is  conveyed  in  the 
final  lines  addressed  to  the  audience;  ' 

Mortals,  that  would  follow  me. 
Love  Virtue;  she  alone  is  free. 
She  can  teach  ye  how  to  climb  — 
Higher  than  the  sphery  chime; 
Or,  if  Virtue  feeble  were. 
Heaven  itself  would  stoop  to  her. 

A  sad  accident  occasioned  the  writing  of  Lycidas  (1637), 
one  of  the  greatest  of  English  elegies.  Milton's  college 
friend,  Edward  King,  had  lost  his  life  in  a  shipwreck  on  the 
Irish  Sea.  A  group  of  Cambridge  associates  determined  to 
publish  a  memorial  volume  in  honor  of  their  dead  friend. 
Most  of  the  contributors  sent  in  Latin  or  Greek  verses,  but 
Milton,  although  he  wrote  Latin  very  well,  fortunately 
chose  to  write  in  English.  The  poem  is  a  pastoral  allegory 
—  a  form  with  which  Milton  became  familiar  in  his  reading 
of  such  classic  writers  as  Theocritus  and  Virgil.  In  it  he 
rebukes  the  frivolity  of  so  many  of  the  poets  of  his  day  and 
departs  from  the  course  of  his  narrative  to  make  a  stinging 
attack  on  the  selfish,  mercenary  clergy.  Here  we  find  the 
first  marked  evidence  of  the  Puritanical  spirit  that  became 
increasingly  significant  in  his  later  work.  In  addition  to 
these  so-called  Minor  Poems  (though  the  name  should  never 
be  regarded  as  reflecting  upon  their  merit)  Milton  wrote 
some  of  the  most  beautiful  sonnets  in  the  language.  He 
ranks  among  the  few  great  English  masters  of  that  difficult 
verse-form. 

15.  The  Second  Period  (1638-1660).  In  1638  Milton 
set  out  for  an  extended  tour  of  western  Europe.  Con- 
tinental travel,  especially  in  France  and  Italy,  was  in  those 
days  accounted  part  of  every  gentleman's  training.  Milton 
first  \'isited  Paris,  where  the  English  ambassador  introduced 
him  to  Hugo  Grotius,  the  famous  Dutch  jurist.  Then  he 
proceeded  to  Pisa  and  Florence,  where  he  was  welcomed  by 


170  THE  PURITAN  AGE 

the  foremost  scholars  of  the  age.  He  had  intended  to  con- 
tinue his  travels  to  Greece,  but  hearing  rumors  of  the  im- 
pending political  upheaval  at  home,  he  returned  to  England 
and  devoted  himself  zealously  to  the  Puritan  cause.  Dur- 
ing the  twenty  years  between  1640  and  1660  he  wrote  many 
important  pamphlets  in  English  and  in  Latin.  Some  of 
these  dealt  with  religious  freedom,  with  education,  and  with 
divorce.  His  most  famous  prose  work,  Areopagitica  (1644), 
was  a  strong  demand  for  freedom  of  the  press.  In  1643 
Milton  had  married  Mary  Powell,  a  girl  of  seventeen  who  had 
been  brought  up  in  the  gay  atmosphere  of  a  Cavalier  family 
and  who  was  therefore  hardly  to  be  looked  upon  as  a  con- 
genial wife  for  an  austere  Puritan  whose  age  was  more  than 
twice  her  own.  The  marriage  was  unhappy  and  for  a  time 
they  separated,  but  two  years  later  they  became  reconciled. 
It  was  during  the  period  of  their  separation  that  Milton 
wrote  a  series  of  pamphlets  on  divorce. 

After  the  execution  of  Charles  I  in  1649,  Milton  was 
chosen  Foreign  Secretary  under  the  Commonwealth  gov- 
ernment and  not  only  conducted  his  affairs  ably  in  that 
office,  but  also  found  time  to  write  vigorously  in  defense  of 
Cromwell  and  the  Puritan  cause.  A  Dutch  scholar  named 
Salmasius  had  been  instigated  by  Charles  II,  then  Uving 
in  exile  on  the  Continent,  to  write  an  attack  on  the  Com- 
monwealth in  a  Latin  tractate  entitled  Defensio  Regia, 
The  English  government  looked  to  Milton  to  prepare  an 
adequate  reply.  He  did  so  in  1651  in  another  Latin  pamphlet 
named  Pro  Populo  Anglicano  Defensio.  This  great  effort 
was  undertaken  and  carried  out  by  Milton  in  full  realization 
of  the  fact  that  the  extensive  reading  and  study  involved 
in  the  task  would  cost  him  his  eye-sight.  In  fact,  the 
vision  of  his  left  eye  was  gone  before  he  published  his  reply 
to  Salmasius. 

In  1652,  at  the  age  of  forty -three,  he  became  totally  blind. 
It  is  impossible  for  us  to  read  to-day  the  pathetic  Sonnet 


JOHN  mLTON 


171 


172  THE  PURITAN  AGE 

on  His  Blindness  or  the  apostrophe  to  Hght  in  the  first  fifty 
lines  of  Book  III  of  Paradise  Lost  without  reahzing  to  some 
degree  what  blindness  meant  to  this  gifted  scholar  in  the 
full  flush  of  his  mature  manhood,  at  a  time  when  he  was 
best  equipped  intellectually  to  serve  the  great  cause  that 
was  nearest  his  heart.  A  year  later  his  wife  died,  leaving 
to  his  care  three  young  daughters.  In  1656  Milton  married 
Katharine  Woodcock,  but  his  second  wife  died  little  more 
than  a  year  after  their  marriage.  During  the  seven  years 
that  followed  her  death  Milton  trained  his  daughters  to 
read  to  him  in  Greek,  Latin,  and  Hebrew,  as  well  as  in 
several  modern  languages.  They  did  not  understand  what 
they  were  reading,  but  their  blind  father  read  through  their 
eyes.  Amid  all  the  suffering  and  distress  of  that  period 
we  find  no  whining  plaint  coming  from  the  great  poet,  but 
a  noble  resignation  to  the  decrees  of  a  higher  power.  He 
was  able  to  continue  his  work  as  Foreign  Secretary  by  the 
aid  of  assistants  and  continued  to  hold  that  post  until  the 
Restoration  in  1660. 

16.  The  Third  Period  (1660-1674).  The  return  of  Charles 
II  was  doubtless  hailed  with  acclaim  by  the  majority  of 
Englishmen  of  that  day  who  were  disgusted  with  the  inejQS- 
ciency  of  the  government  after  the  death  of  Oliver  Cromwell. 
To  Milton,  however,  the  Restoration  was  like  the  last  bitter 
blow  in  his  heavy  misfortunes.  Although  Charles  II  had 
shown  a  gracious  disposition  at  the  outset  of  his  return,  he 
soon  inflicted  severe  punishment  upon  all  who  had  been 
actively  opposed  to  the  Royalists.  Milton's  friends  man- 
aged to  keep  him  under  cover  until  the  worst  was  over, 
but  even  then  he  was  arrested  and  imprisoned  for  a  short 
time.  When  he  was  released,  the  authorities  confiscated 
much  of  his  meager  property.  It  is  probable  that  the 
King  would  have  insisted  upon  sterner  measures  if  he  had 
not  been  impressed  by  the  tragedy  of  Milton's  situation. 
The  one  comfort  that  came  to  Milton  during  the  dark  days 


JOHN  MILTON  173 

following  the  Restoration  was  his  marriage  in  1663  to  his 
third  wife,  EUzabeth  MinshuU,  who  was  a  capable  woman 
and  devoted  herself  to  looking  after  his  welfare.  Milton 
did  not  lose  heart  over  the  sad  change  in  his  fortunes.  As  a 
youth  he  had  considered  the  subject  of  King  Arthur  and  his 
knights  as  a  suitable  theme  for  the  great  poem  he  hoped  to 
write.  Later  he  turned  with  more  confidence  to  the  story 
of  the  creation  and  the  fall  of  man. 

His  great  epic,  Paradise  Lost,  was  begun  in  1658  and 
completed  in  1665.  It  was  not  printed,  however,  until 
1667.  For  this  masterpice  of  exalted  religious  verse  —  con- 
sidered by  many  the  finest  epic  poem  in  the  language  —  he 
received  only  £10.  In  spite  of  this  slight  financial  return, 
Milton  probably  felt  satisfied  at  the  thought  that  his  great 
work  was  to  see  the  light  of  day  in  printed  form.  No  doubt 
his  physical  affliction  helped  to  impart  a  certain  spiritual 
dignity  to  the  epic.  As  a  blind  and  broken  man,  Milton 
was  living  apart  from  the  hubbub  and  the  brilliancy  that 
marked  the  earlier  years  of  the  Restoration.  He  was  liter- 
ally detached  from  his  age.  Perhaps  it  was  well  that  he  no 
longer  saw  with  physical  eyes  the  world  about  him,  but 
rejoiced  in  a  spiritual  vision  of  the  world  in  the  days  of  its 
infancy  and  of  the  innocence  of  mankind. 

In  its  original  form  Paradise  Lost  was  arranged  in  ten 
books,  but  it  was  later  (1674)  recast  into  the  traditional 
twelve  books.  The  poem  opens  with  an  invocation  to  the 
Heavenly  Muse  to  sing 

Of  man's  first  disobedience,  and  the  fruit 
Of  that  forbidden  tree  whose  mortal  taste 
Brought  death  into  the  World,  and  all  our  woe. 
With  loss  of  Eden,  till  one  greater  Man 
Restore  us,  and  regain  the  blissful  seat. 

The  poem  then  describes  Satan  and  his  defeated  legions 
lying  in  confusion  in  the  utter  darkness  of  Chaos.  Satan 
addresses  his  followers  and  holds  out  to  them  a  hope  of 


174  THE  PURITAN  AGE 

regaining  Heaven.  The  infernal  peers  hold  council  in 
Pandemonium,  the  palace  of  Satan.  Rather  than  risk 
another  battle  to  recover  Heaven,  they  agree  to  let  Satan 
learn  the  truth  as  to  a  new  world  and  a  new  order  of  creature, 
which,  according  to  rumor,  were  about  to  come  into  being. 
Satan  reaches  the  Garden  of  Eden,  and  beholds  Adam  and 
Eve  in  a  state  of  innocence.  He  learns  that  they  were  for- 
bidden to  eat  of  the  Tree  of  Knowledge.  Satan  enters 
into  the  Serpent  and  tempts  Eve  to  eat  of  the  forbidden 
fruit.  When  Adam  learns  of  her  offense,  he  is  at  first  amazed, 
but  his  love  for  her  impels  him  to  do  likewise  and  share  her 
fate.  Satan  returns  to  Pandemonium,  boasting  of  his  suc- 
cess. The  Son  of  God  intercedes  for  our  first  parents,  but 
God  declares  they  must  no  longer  abide  in  Paradise.  Sub- 
missively they  are  led  out  by  the  Angel  Michael  while  the 
flaming  sword  waves  over  the  scene  of  the  happiness  that 
they  have  forfeited. 

It  is  true  that  Paradise  Lost  no  longer  appeals  to  a  large 
group  of  readers;  even  students  of  literature  are  likely  to 
read  only  two  or  three  books  of  the  epic.  Few  poems  of 
such  length  and  such  character  can  achieve  the  sustained 
excellence  that  is  essential  to  their  continued  popularity. 
Here  and  there,  especially  in  the  later  books,  the  poem 
grows  monotonous  at  times  and  stresses  too  much  a  stern, 
outworn  theology  which  the  world  has  left  behind.  Never- 
theless we  may  find  in  this  poem  some  of  the  sublimest  pas- 
sages in  literature,  unequaled  for  sonority  and  cadence, 
rich  in  imaginative  and  picturesque  quality.  Whether 
widely  read  or  not,  it  is  indeed  a  poem  that  the  world  will 
not  willingly  let  die. 

17.  Later  Poetical  Work.  Four  years  later  (1671)  ap- 
peared another  epic.  Paradise  Regained,  in  four  books  and 
about  2000  lines,  treating  the  subject  of  Christ's  tempta- 
tion and  the  redemption  of  man.  Thus  it  completes  the 
theme  suggested  by  Paradise  Lost.     Critics  difl^er  in  their 


JOHN  MILTON 


175 


estimates  of  the  two  poems,  but  most  authorities  regard 
Paradise  Regained  as  inferior  to  Paradise  Lost  in  majesty  of 
conception  as  well  as  in  the  musical  (juality  of  the  verse. 
In  the  same  year  Milton  brought  out  his  Samson  Agonistes, 
a  dramatic  poem  modeled  after  the  fashion  of  ancient  Greek 
tragedy.  He  depicts  the  distress  of  Samson,  bUnd,  stripped 
of  his  glory  and  shorn  of  his  strength,  a  prisoner  among  the 
Philistines.  It  is  easy  to  read  much  of  the  tragedy  of 
Milton's  own  later  Ufe  into  the  lines  of  that  noble  drama, 
which  gives  a  good  idea  of  the  form  and  spirit 'of  classical 
tragedy.  It  was  the  last  great  utterance  from  a  poet  who 
had  known  many 
changes  of  fortune  in 
his  time,  and  who  spoke 
from  the  bitterness  of 
his  heart  in  the  midst 
of  the  evil  days  upon 
which  he  had  fallen. 
His  declining  years  were 
spent  quietly  at  his 
home  in  London,  where 
he  died  November  8, 
1674.  He  was  buried 
in  St.  Giles  Chapel, 
Cripplegate,  London. 

18.  Characteristics  of 
Milton's  Poetry. 
Although  the  range  of 
Milton's  poetic  work 
is  comparatively  narrow 
and  reveals  a  literary  genius  held  in  restraint  by  traditions 
that  influenced  all  Puritan  poets,  few  will  question  his  right  to 
rank  next  to  Shakespeare  among  our  great  writers.  It  may 
be  admitted  that  the  gap  between  them  is  wide;  Milton 
had  little  sense  of  humor,  and  he  lacked  that  intimate  sym- 


Drawing  by  Dore 

Paradise  Lost 


176  THE  PURITAN   AGE 

pathy  with  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  humanity  that  char- 
acterized Shakespeare.  In  spite  of  his  liberal  education 
and  the  advantages  offered  by  continental  travel  and  asso- 
ciation with  the  most  distinguished  men  of  his  day,  Milton 
was  imable  to  escape  the  effects  of  a  rigorous  system  of 
spiritual  discipline  which  he  had  forced  upon  himself  and 
which  served  as  a  standard  in  determining  his  estimate  of 
others.  At  the  same  time  his  verse  reveals  a  stern  beauty 
and  a  majestic  loftiness  of  tone  unparalleled  in  our  literature. 
His  work  h  usually  classic  in  spirit  and  musical  in  quality. 
He  is  most  highly  esteemed  for  the  sublimity  of  his  imagery 
in  the  great  epic  of  the  fall  of  man  and  for  the  dignity  with 
which  he  treated  every  theme  upon  which  he  essayed  to 
write.  Few  poets  were  more  conscious  of  a  divinely  or- 
dained mission  than  Milton.  From  his  youth  he  appeared 
to  consider  himself  as  one  consecrated  to  a  great  cause;  all 
his  studies  and  earlier  poetic  flights  were  merely  preliminary 
to  the  coming  day  when  he  should  "assert  eternal  Provi- 
dence and  justify  the  ways  of  God  to  man.'* 

19.  The  Influence  of  Milton.  It  is  a  notable  fact  that 
Milton's  great  epic  was  published  at  a  period  when  English 
morality  was  at  its  lowest  point  —  in  the  decade  following 
the  Restoration  of  Charles  II.  Comparatively  few  copies  of 
Paradise  Lost  were  bought  immediately  after  its  publication. 
Circumstances  seemed  to  weigh  heavily  against  the  work, 
yet  Milton  exerted  a  profound  influence  upon  the  theology 
of  his  own  and  later  days.  There  was  much  detail  in  his 
graphic  narrative  that  was  not  to  be  found  in  the  Biblical 
account  of  the  fall  of  man.  Milton  enlarged  upon  the 
story  as  he  found  it,  and  his  conception  of  the  first  parents, 
of  the  fallen  angels,  and  of  the  expulsion  from  Eden  was 
reflected  in  theological  opinion  long  after  his  time.  In  most 
of  his  work,  whether  poetry  or  prose,  there  is  evidence  of 
exalted  ideals  and  seriousness  of  purpose  —  characteristics 
that  explain  his  significance  to  intellectual  readers.     He 


JOHN  MILTON  177 

would  never  appeal  to  ike  varied  audience  that  recognizes 
the  genius  manifested  in  Shakespeare's  sympathetic  inter- 
pretation of  humanity,  but  he  holds  a  high  place  in  the  regard 
of  those  who  meditate  upon  the  life  of  the  spirit,  and  who 
labor  for  the  moral  regeneration  of  mankind. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  RESTORATION 

1.  Change  of  Ideals.  Human  society  shows  a  disposition 
to  swing  from  one  extreme  to  another.  An  age  of  expansion 
and  license  is  likely  to  be  followed  by  one  of  repression  and 
austerity.     After   the   overthrow   of   the   Royalists   by   so 

powerful  a  leader  as  Oliver 
Cromwell,  the  Puritan  tradi- 
tion was  forced  upon  Eng- 
land and  prevailed  until  the 
Protector's  death  in  1658. 
By  that  time  England  was 
beginning  to  chafe  under  the 
strictness  of  Puritan  rule, 
which  meant  not  only  the 
stern  morality  of  a  Milton, 
but  also  the  fanaticism  of  a 
Praise  God  Barebones  and 
his  kind.  In  some  quarters 
Puritanism  had  become  so 
rigid  that  any  art  or  pas- 
time that  gave  pleasure,  no 
matter  how  innocent,  was  re- 
garded with  suspicion.  Danc- 
ing under  the  May-pole  and 
wearing  light-colored  clothes  were  condemned  as  vehemently 
as  bear-baiting  and  cock-fighting.  A  reaction  set  in  that 
exerted  a  most  significant  influence  on  literature.  The  cour- 
tiers who  came  to  England  in  1660  in  the  train  of  Charles  II 

178 


Paul's  Cathedral 


NEW  INFLUENCES  179 

seemed  to  take  delight  in  shocking  and  satirizing  the  sober- 
minded  Puritans.  The  King  set  the  fashion  by  leading  a 
frivolous  and  dissolute  life;  the  men  and  women  about  him 
naturally  followed  his  example.  Under  the  "  merry  monarch," 
as  he  was  called,  England  no  longer  practiced  what  the 
Puritans  preached.  The  court  soon  gained  the  reputation 
of  being  the  most  profligate  in  Europe.  With  cynical  con- 
tempt Charles  II  played  off  one  party  against  another  and 
cared  little  what  they  did,  so  long  as  they  made  no  attempt 
to  interfere  with  his  pleasures.  It  would  be  wrong,  however, 
to  conclude  that  the  corruption  of  the  court  extended  to  all 
ranks  of  society.  The  lower  classes  were  fundamentally 
sound  and  uninfluenced  by  the  vices  of  the  nobility  and 
gentry.  While  Charles  and  his  dissipated  associates  were 
misruling  England,  Bunyan  and  men  like  him  were  preaching 
to  the  common  people  in  London  and  elsewhere,  and  Milton 
was  composing  his  masterful  epics  upholding  the  sanctity 
of  the  Divine  Law. 

2.  New  Influences.  Charles  II  had  spent  most  of  his 
exile  in  France  and  had  become  familiar  with  the  life  of  the 
French  court,  where  his  uncle  Louis  XIV,  usually  called  the 
"  Grand  Monarch,"  was  at  that  time  on  the  throne.  The 
reign  of  Louis  XIV  (1643-1715)  was  one  of  the  longest  and 
most  remarkable  in  European  history.  During  that  brilliant 
Augustan  Age  in  France,  art,  literature,  and  science  flourished 
as  never  before.  It  was  the  age  of  Pascal,  Corneille,  Racine, 
and  Moliere.  The  splendor  of  monarchical  rule  reached  its 
height  under  the  king  who  declared,  L'etaU  c'est  moi  (I  am 
the  state).  Charles  II  had  been  much  impressed  by  what  he 
had  seen  during  his  exile  in  France  and  was  willing  to  curry 
favor  with  the  £tbsolute  monarch  who  had  a  full  treasury, 
a  powerful  army,  and  no  parliamentary  body  of  any  sort 
to  hamper  his  will.  Charles  accepted  large  sums  of  money 
from  Louis  XIV,  with  whom  he  intrigued  against  his  own 
Parliament.    After  a  reckless,  discreditable  reign  of  twenty- 


180  THE  RESTORATION 

five  years,  replete  with  civil  strife,  Charles  died  in  1685 
and  was  succeeded  by  his  brother  James  II,  who  was  still 
less  satisfactory  to  the  people.  When  James  II  was  driven 
from  the  throne  by  the  Revolution  of  1688,  the  crown  passed 
to  his  daughter  Mary  and  her  husband  William  of  Orange. 
They  ruled  jointly  as  WilUam  and  Mary.  England's  policy 
now  shifted  to  friendly  relations  with  the  Dutch  and  in- 
termittent wars  with  France. 

3.  Classicism.  As  France  furnished  the  model  upon  which 
the  affairs  of  the  EngHsh  court  were  conducted  during  the 
Restoration,  so  French  writers  provided  the  literary  models 
most  closely  followed  by  the  Enghsh  authors  of  the  period. 
The  French  poets  and  dramatists  of  that  age  were  noted 
for  their  strict  adherence  to  certain  rules  regarded  as  essential 
for  all  literary  work  that  was  held  worthy  of  serious  considera- 
tion. Under  the  influence  of  Boileau,  the  leading  French 
critic  of  the  day,  they  established  the  principle  of  "  art  by 
rule."  They  did  not  read  classic  literature  as  did  the  writers 
of  the  Renaissance  period,  to  stimulate  the  imagination,  but 
were  content  to  regard  the  classics  as  perfect  in  literary 
f^cm  and  therefore  worthy  of  the  closest  imitation.  Classi- 
cism as  developed  in  England  meant  conformity  to  accepted 
models  and  standards  by  which  all  new  works  were  judged. 
In  its  reverence  for  literary  authority  it  became  intolerant 
of  all  opinions  that  did  not  agree  with  its  own  ideals.  For 
the  free  play  of  passion  and  imagination  that  prevailed 
during  the  Elizabethan  Age  it  substituted  a  code  that  was 
upheld  by  three  generations  of  literary  men  who  dominated 
intellectual  England  for  more  than  a  century  after  the 
Restoration.  Under  the  successive  leadership  of  John 
Dryden,  Alexander  Pope,  and  Samuel  Johnson,  the  classicists 
maintained  a  remarkable  literary  autocracy  that  set  the 
standards  of  subject-matter  and  form  for  all  writers  who 
produced  literature  during  that  period.  In  place  of  the 
shorter  lyric  measures  that  had  been  used  by  earlier  poets, 


ATTITUDE  TOWARD   NATURE  181 

the  classical  authors  preferred  to  write  long  satires  or  versified 
essays  and  epistles.  Much  of  their  poetry  lacked  originality 
and  emotional  quahty.  It  was  largely  didactic  material, 
put  forth  in  polished,  versified  form. 

4.  The  Classical  Couplet.  In  English  poetry  the  most 
evident  result  of  classical  influence  was  the  domination  of 
one  accepted  poetic  measure  to  the  disadvantage  of  the 
varied  meters  that  had  been  developed  during  the  Renais- 
sance and  Elizabethan  periods.  The  sonnet  and  the  Spen- 
serian stanza  were  frowned  upon  as  lacking  classical 
authority.  The  ode  and  similar  forms  based  upon  Greek  or 
Latin  models  were  accepted  as  correct  for  English  practice, 
but  the  most  popular  meter  was  the  so-called  classical  couplet 
—  the  use  of  iambic  pentameter  lines  rhyming  in  pairs  and 
with  a  distinct  rhetorical  pause  at  the  end  of  each  pair  of 
verses.  This  metrical  form  was  first  used  by  Edmund 
Waller  (1606-1687),  who  is  really  better  remembered  for 
his  charming  lyrics,  Gp,  Lovely  Rose  and  On  a  Girdle,  than 
for  such  rigid  classical  couplets  as  these,  descriptive  of  the 
Bermudas,  which  he  never  visited: 

Such  is  the  mould  that  the  blest  tenant  feeds 
On  precious  fruits,  and  pays  his  rent  in  weeds; 
With  candied  plaintain,  and  the  juicy  pine. 
On  choicest  melons  and  sweet  grapes  they  dine. 

Waller  was  not  a  poet  of  importance,  but  he  deserves  mention 
because  he  introduced  the  form  of  verse  that  was  skilfully 
developed  by  Dryden  and  brought  to  its  highest  stage  of 
perfection  by  Pope.  In  their  hands  the  classical  couplet 
became  a  nicely  turned  expression  of  a  single  thought, 
easily  remembered  and  convenient  for  quotation. 

5.  Attitude  toward  Nature.  Under  the  new  order  of 
things  literature  became  a  mere  diversion  for  the  small 
group  that  belonged  to  the  world  of  fashion.  It  developed 
a  spirit  that  was  eminently  practical  and  based  on  what 


182 


THE  RESTORATION 


we  like  to  call  "  common  sense."  It  frowned  on  the  fairy- 
tales of  Old  England  and  the  host  of  legends  about  ghosts, 
witches,  and  elves.  It  regarded  the  romances  of  earlier  ages 
as  crude  and  inartistic.  There  was  careful  avoidance  of 
everything  that  might  be  considered  as  questionable  in 
taste.  Nature  was  interesting  only  as  reformed  and  "  im- 
proved "  by  man.  There  was  no  symmetry  in  nature  — 
and  symmetry  was  essential  to  art.  Therefore  a  well- 
graded  lawn  or  a  park  carefully  laid  out  with  regular  walks 

and  avenues  would 
command  admira- 
tion; but  a  mountain 
gorge,  a  precipice, 
or  a  natural  water- 
fall would  be  con- 
sidered rough  and 
uninteresting.  When 
Englishmen  of  that 
period  traveled  on 
the  Continent,  they  complained  of  the  nuisance  of  crossing 
the  Alps  in  order  to  reach  the  fair  plains  of  Italy.  That 
the  Alps  might  attract  favorable  attention  on  their  own 
account  was  not  considered.  The  love  for  the  artificial,  as 
representing  the  handiwork  of  man,  reached  the  point  of 
preferring  a  certain  artificiality  of  vocabulary  to  the  natural 
speech  of  an  earlier  age.  The  old  English  ballads  voiced  the 
sentiment : 

It  is  merry,  walking  in  the  fair  forest 
To  hear  the  small  birds'  song 

but  Alexander  Pope  rendered  it: 

Hear  how  the  birds,  on  every  blooming  spray. 
With  joyous  music  wake  the  dawning  day! 

Contrast  the  vigorous  directness  of  Shakespeare's 

Kings  and  mightiest  potentates  must  die 
For  that's  the  end  of  human  misery 


Garden  of  Windsor  Castle 


SAMUEL  BUTLER  183 

with  Dryden's  studied  and  polished  version  of  the 
thought : 

All  human  things  are  subject  to  decay, 

And,  when  Fate  summons,  monarchs  must  obey. 

Such  quotations  aptly  illustrate  the  difference  between 
nature  and  art  —  between  the  spirit  of  the  Renaissance  and 
that  of  the  Restoration. 

6.  Samuel  Butler  (1612-1680)  was  a  satirist  whose  repu- 
tation rests  upon  a  single  work,  carelessly  and  hastily  thrown 
together.  He  was  for  a  time  steward  of  Ludlow  Castle, 
where  Milton's  Comus  had  been  produced.  During  the 
Protectorate  he  was  employed  by  a  very  strict  Puritan 
nobleman  whose  narrow  views  probably  inspired  much  of 
the  ridicule  that  found  its  way  into  the  poem  Hudibras, 
which  was  published  in  1663.  It  relates  the  adventures  of 
an  eccentric  justice,  Sir  Hudibras,  and  his  squire  Ralph,  who 
set  out  to  suppress  all  popular  merriment  and  diversion. 
The  model  was  clearly  Cervantes'  great  Spanish  romance,  Don 
Quixote,  but  the  form  was  a  crude  couplet  of  four  accents  to 
the  verse.  It  may  be  illustrated  by  this  description  of  the  hero: 

He  was  in  logic  a  great  critic. 

Profoundly  skill'd  in  Analytic; 

He  could  distinguish  and  divide 

A  hair  'twixt  south  and  southwest  side; 

On  either  hand  he  would  dispute. 

Confute,  change  hands,  and  still  confute; 

He'd  undertake  to  prove,  by  force 

Of  argument,  a  man's  no  horse; 

He'd  prove  a  buzzard  is  no  fowl. 

And  that  a  Lord  may  be  an  owl. 

Hudibras  became  extremely  popular  among  the  Royalists, 
including  Charles  II  and  his  courtiers.  A  second  and  a 
third  part  of  the  poem  were  brought  out  in  1664  and  1668 
in  response  to  the  wide  demand.  Although  the  work  made 
no  pretension  to  Uterary  merit,  it  is  of  great  interest  because 


184  THE  RESTORATION 

of  its  occasional  cleverness  and  its  caustic,  satirical  picture 
of  the  age. 

7.  The  Diarists.  Both  of  the  leading  diarists  of  EngHsh 
literature  flourished  during  the  Restoration  and  preserved 
many  significant  bits  of  history  during  that  period.  John 
Evelyn  (1620-1706)  produced  in  his  Sylva  and  Terra  the 
first  important  books  in  our  language  on  forestry  and  agri- 
culture, but  he  is  remembered  chiefly  for  his  Diary^  which 
covers  the  period  1641-1706  and  gives  intimate  pictures 
of  the  social  life  of  his  day. 

Jan.  30,  1661.  This  day  (O  the  stupendous  and  inscrutable 
judgments  of  God!)  were  the  carcasses  of  those  arch-rebels, 
Cromwell,  Bradshaw,  the  Judge  who  condemned  his  Majesty, 
and  Ireton,  son-in-law  to  the  Usurper,  dragged  out  of  their 
superb  tombs  in  Westminster  among  the  Kings,  to  Tyburn, 
and  hanged  on  the  gallows  there  from  9  in  the  morning  till 
6  at  night,  and  then  buried  under  that  fatal  and  ignominious 
monument  in  a  deep  pit;  thousands  of  people  who  had  seen 
them  in  all  their  pride  being  spectators. 

June  16,  1670.  I  went  with  some  friends  to  the  Bear  Garden, 
where  was  cock-fighting,  dog-fighting,  bear  and  bull  baiting, 
it  being  a  famous  day  for  all  these  butcherly  sports,  or  rather 
barbarous  cruelties.  .  .  .  One  of  the  bulls  tossed  a  dog  full 
into  a  lady's  lap,  as  she  sate  in  one  of  the  boxes  at  a  considerable 
height  from  the  arena.  Two  poor  dogs  were  killed,  and  so  all 
ended  with  the  ape  on  horseback,  and  I  most  heartily  weary 
of  the  rude  and  dirty  pastime,  which  I  had  not  seen,  I  think, 
in  twenty  years  before. 

Many  of  the  entries  are  dull  and  insignificant,  but  occasion- 
ally we  come  across  a  human  touch,  as  in  "  This  day  I  paid 
my  debts  to  a  farthing,  O  blessed  day." 

Samuel  Pepys  (1633-1703),  whose  name  is  pronounced 
pe'ps  or  peepSy  was  a  clerk  in  the  Navy  Board  and  later  a 
secretary  of  the  Admiralty.  His  entertaining  Diary  covers 
the  short  period  1660-1669,  but  is  an  unusually  complete 
record  of  his  experiences  and  impressions.  He  included 
everything  from  the  quaint  details  of  his  own  domestic  life 


SCIENCE  AND   PHILOSOPHY  185 

to  the  most  important  events  at  Court  and  in  society.  For 
his  own  protection  he  kept  the  Diary  in  a  shorthand  code 
of  his  own  devising.  It  was  not  deciphered  and  pubHshed 
until  1825.  The  following  extracts  will  afford  some  idea  of 
the  variety  and  charm  of  this  very  human  document: 

Feb.  1,  1660.  In  the  morning  went  to  my  office  where  after- 
wards the  old  man  brought  me  my  letters  from  the  carrier. 
At  noon  I  went  home  and  dined  with  my  wife  on  pease  porridge 
and  nothing  else.  .  .  . 

May  23,  1660.  All  the  afternoon  the  King  walked  here  and 
there,  up  and  down  (quite  contrary  to  what  I  thought  him  to 
have  been)  very  active  and  stirring.  Upon  the  quarter-deck 
he  fell  into  discourse  of  his  escape  from  Worcester,  where  it 
made  me  ready  to  weep  to  hear  the  stories  that  he  told  of  his 
difficulties  that  he  had  passed  through,  as  his  travelling  four 
days  and  three  nights  on  foot,  every  step  up  to  his  knees  in 
dirt,  with  nothing  but  a  green  coat  and  a  pair  of  country  breeches 
on,  and  a  pair  of  country  shoes  that  made  him  so  sore  all  over 
his  feet,  that  he  could  scarce  stir. 

Aug.  20,  1666.  Up,  and  to  Deptford  by  water,  reading  **  Othello, 
Moore  of  Venice,"  which  I  ever  heretofore  esteemed  a  mighty 
good  play,  but  having  so  lately  read  "  The  Adventures  of  Five 
Houres  "it  seems  a  mean  thing. 

In  the  midst  of  all  sorts  of  reference  to  contemporary  history, 
politics,  and  Uterature  it  is  curious  to  note  that  Pepys  does 
not  make  mention  of  John  Milton.  His  Diary  is  far  more 
interesting  than  Evelyn's,  but  both  are  of  great  value  to 
the  historian  of  the  period. 

8.  Science  and  Philosophy.  Amid  the  frivohty  of  the 
Restoration  it  is  refreshing  to  note  an  increased  interest  in 
scientific  learning  and  in  philosophy.  The  Royal  Society, 
incorporated  in  1662  to  encourage  the  study  of  the  physical 
sciences,  has  been  active  ever  since  that  time  and  has 
published  many  volumes  of  scholarly  transactions  embody- 
ing the  investigations  and  discoveries  made  by  its  members. 
Robert  Boyle  (1627-1691),  who  was  one  of  its  founders,  did 
extensive  work  in  experimental  science  and  is  sometimes 


186  THE  RESTORATION 

regarded  as  the  father  of  modern  chemistry.  The  contribu- 
tions of  Sir  Isaac  Newton  (1642-1727)  to  scientific  knowledge 
are  still  more  significant.  Among  the  philosophers,  John 
Locke  (1632-1704)  easily  ranks  first  on  the  strength  of  a 
single  great  work,  his  Essay  Concerning  Human  Under- 
standing (1690),  which  investigates  the  nature  of  the  intellect 
and  the  origin  of  ideas.  Such  works  as  this  and  the  earlier 
Leviathan  (1651),  written  by  Thomas  Hobbes  (1588-1679), 
belong  to  the  realm  of  philosophy  rather  than  to  literature. 

9.  The  Restoration  Drama.  When  the  theaters  were 
reopened  in  1660,  England  had  been  for  eighteen  years 
without  public  theatrical  representations.  The  spirit  of 
the  new  age  was  very  different  from  that  of  the  Elizabethan 
period.  French  influence  brought  in  much  cynical  wit  and 
open  derision  of  conventional  morality.  The  taste  of  the 
age  was  such  that  it  regarded  itself  as  far  superior  to  the 
earlier  epoch.  Pepys'  opinion  of  Othello  has  just  been 
quoted.  In  1662  he  said  of  Romeo  and  Juliet,  "  a  play  of 
itself  the  worst  that  ever  I  heard  in  my  life."  Later  he 
described  A  Midsummer  Nighfs  Dream  as  "  a  most  insipid 
ridiculous  play,'*  and  Twelfth  Night  as  "  but  a  silly  play." 
Voltaire,  the  distinguished  French  critic,  admitted  Shake- 
speare's genius,  but  added  significantly  that  Shakespeare  did 
not  have  a  trace  of  good  taste  and  no  knowledge  of  rules. 
Among  the  few  Restoration  dramatists  who  essayed  serious 
drama  was  Thomas  Otway  (1651-1685)  who  attended  West- 
minster School  and  Christ  Church,  Oxford.  His  most 
successful  plays  were  The  Orphan  (1680)  and  Venice  Pre- 
served (1682).  There  are  impressive  scenes  in  the  latter 
play,  but  Otway  is  chiefly  remembered  to-day  because  of  a 
somewhat  untrustworthy  story  to  the  effect  that  he  starved 
to  death. 

The  most  notable  of  the  Restoration  dramatists  were 
WilUam  Wycherley  (1640P-1716)  and  WilUam  Congreve  (1670- 
1729).     Wycherley   wrote   a   few   comedies,   such   as    The 


JOHN  DRYDEN  187 

Country  Wife  and  The  Plain  Dealer,  which,  in  spite  of  their 
wit  and  dramatic  construction,  must  be  condemned  as 
immoral  and  degrading.  Congreve,  who  wrote  about 
twenty  years  later,  was  a  far  better  writer  and  more  natural 
in  his  manner  of  developing  a  plot,  but  he  does  not  escape 
the  charge  of  catering  to  the  low  taste  of  his  age.  He  wrote 
four  comedies  —  The  Old  Bachelor,  The  Double  Dealer,  Love 
for  Love,  and  The  Way  of  the  World  —  but  only  one  tragedy. 
The  Mourning  Bride,  which  is  remembered  because  of  its 
first  line: 

Music  has  charms  to  sooth  a  savage  breast. 

We  should  not  take  the  vulgar  comedies  of  the  Restoration 
period  as  typical  of  the  life  of  that  age.  They  were  written 
mainly  for  an  audience  whose  taste  had  been  depraved  by 
undesirable  models  from  abroad;  they  found  their  best 
support  among  those  who  were  close  to  the  Court  or  who 
aped  its  ways. 

JOHN   DRYDEN  (1C31-1700) 

10.  Life  and  Early  Works.  John  Dryden  was  born  at 
Aldwinkle,  Northamptonshire,  in  1631.  His  father  was  a 
justice  of  the  peace  and  son  of  a  baronet.  As  a  boy  Dryden 
attended  the  Westminster  School  under  the  famous  flogging 
master.  Dr.  Busby,  and  no  doubt  had  his  share  of  the  flog- 
ging. Later  he  went  to  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  where 
he  developed  into  an  earnest  student  who  was  especially 
well  read  in  the  classics.  As  his  family  were  of  Puritan 
stock  and  sympathized  with  the  Puritan  party,  Dryden 
WTote  his  Heroic  Stanzas  (1658)  on  the  death  of  Oliver 
Cromwell.  His  lack  of  political  sincerity  became  apparent 
two  years  later  when  the  Restoration  placed  Charles  II 
on  the  throne.  Dryden  promptly  aligned  himself  with  the 
winning  party  by  writing  Asiraea  Redux,  a  flattering  poem 
of  welcome  to  the  returning  monarch.     He  married  Lady 


188 


THE   RESTORATION 


Elizabeth  Howard  in  1663  and  became  the  father  of  three 
sons  who  assisted  him  in  his  Hterary  labors  toward  the  end 
of  his  life.  In  1667  he  achieved  great  popularity  with  his 
poem  Annus  Mirabilis,  which  recounted  in  stirring  verse 
some  of  the  leading  events  of  the  year  1666,  such  as  the 
Great  Fire  of  London  and  the  Dutch  War.  Likewise  in 
1667  he  brought  out  his  first  im- 
portant critical  treatise,  his  Essay  of 
Dramatic  Poesy,  which  was  not  only 
a  most  significant  piece  of  literary 
criticism,  but  marked  an  epoch  in 
the  development  of  English  prose 
style. 

Lured  by  the  prospect  of  large 
returns  for  his  literary  efforts, 
Dryden  turned  to  the  stage  and  un- 
dertook to  provide  three  plays  every 
year  for  the  King's  Theater.  For 
almost  two  decades  he  continued 
to  produce  successful  plays  of  every 
variety.  He  adapted  Shakespeare's  Antony  and  Cleopatra 
under  the  title  All  for  Love  and  took  similar  liberties  with 
The  Tempest,  but  without  changing  its  name.  Most  of  his 
plays  were  trivial  farces  and  satirical  comedies  of  the  kind 
that  were  most  in  demand.  During  this  period  Dryden 
came  to  be  regarded  as  the  leading  literary  man  of  London. 
He  was  made  Poet  Laureate  in  1670  and  afterwards  received 
a  profitable  appointment  as  Collector  of  the  Port  of  London. 
11.  Dryden*s  Satires.  Dryden  was  about  fifty  years  old 
when  he  gave  up  writing  for  the  stage  and  devoted  himself 
to  the  composition  of  important  religious  and  political 
treatises  in  prose  and  in  verse.  In  rapid  succession  he 
produced  three  remarkable  satirical  poems.  Absalom  and 
Achitophel  (1681)  was  the  first,  and  ranks  as  the  most  brilliant 
of  all  poHtical  satires.    Under  the  guise  of  the  familiar  Old 


John  Dryden 


JOHN  DRYDEN  189 

Testameril  story,  Dryden  assailed  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury 
(Achitophel)  who  was  at  that  time  imprisoned  in  the  Tower 
of  London  awaiting  trial  for  supporting  the  Duke  of  Mon- 
mouth (Absalom)  as  heir  to  the  throne  of  Charles  II  (King 
David).  The  Duke  of  Buckingham  figured  as  Zimri  and 
Oliver  Cromwell  as  Saul.  London  became  Jerusalem, 
France  became  Egypt,  and  the  King  of  France  was  there- 
fore Pharoah.  Dryden's  remarkable  skill  in  pen-portrai- 
ture was  revealed  in  his  description  of  Shaftesbury 

Of  these  the  false  Achitophel  was  first; 
A  name  to  all  succeeding  ages  cursed: 
For  close  designs  and  crooked  counsel  fit; 
Sagacious,  bold,  and  turbulent  of  wit; 
Restless,  unfixed  in  principles  and  place; 
In  power  unpleased,  impatient  of  disgrace. 

The  Duke  of  Buckingham  fared  no  better* 

A  man  so  various,  that  he  seemed  to  be 
Not  one,  but  all  mankind's  epitome: 
Stiff  in  opinions,  always  in  the  wrong; 
Was  everything  by  starts,  and  nothing  long; 
But,  in  the  course  of  one  revolving  moon. 
Was  chymist,  fiddler,  statesman,  and  buffoon. 

The  second  satire,  The  Medal  (1682),  written  at  the  sugges- 
tion of  Charles  II  after  the  release  of  Shaftesbury  from  the 
Tower,  was  still  more  scathing  in  its  language  and  is  said 
to  have  hastened  Shaftesbury's  death.  The  last  and  shortest 
of  the  three  poems  was  MacFlecknoe  (1682),*  a  piece  of 
personal  raillery  directed  against  a  minor  poet  named 
Shadwell  who  had  been  foolish  enough  to  attack  Dryden 
for  writing  The  Medal.  Dryden  regarded  MacFlecknoe  as 
the  best  of  his  poems.  Poor  Shadwell  was  immortalized  in 
one  unforgettable  couplet: 

The  rest  to  some  faint  meaning  make  pretence, 
But  Shadwell  never  deviates  into  sense. 


190  THE  RESTORATION 

The  first  of  Dryden's  important  religious  pbems  was 
Religio  Laid  (1682)  or  Religion  of  a  Layman,  which  was  a 
strong  defense  of  the  English  Church,  but  within  three 
years,  when  James  II  ascended  the  throne,  Dryden  forth- 
with turned  Catholic  and  wrote  another  rehgious  satire. 
The  Hind  and  the  Panther  (1687),  in  which  "a  milk-white 
Hind  immortal  and  unchanged"  typified  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  while  the  Panther,  represented  as  *'the  fairest 
creature  of  the  spotted  kind,  too  good  to  be  a  beast  of  prey," 
stood  for  the  Anglican  Church.    In  this  satire  Dryden  was 


Trinity  College,  Cambridge 

bitter  in  his  denunciation  of  other  sects.  The  wolf  stood 
for  the  Calvinists,  the  boar  for  the  Anabaptists,  the  hare 
for  the  Quakers,  and  the  ape  for  the  infidels. 

12.  The  Later  Works.  Dryden's  quick  shift  of  allegiance 
at  the  Restoration  and  his  change  of  religion  in  1685  gave 
rise  to  the  accusation  that  he  was  always  ready  to  go  over 
to  the  victorious  side.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  clung  to  the 
Catholic  Church  in  1688  when  James  was  driven  from  the 
throne.  His  refusal  to  acknowledge  allegiance  to  the  Protes- 
tant William  III  involved  the  loss  of  all  his  positions  and  the 
cutting  off  of  his  pensions.     He  was  approaching  old  age. 


JOHN  DRYDEN  191 

but  set  to  work  with  renewed  energy  to  support  himself  by 
his  pen.  He  wrote  plays,  poems,  prefaces  to  books  by  others, 
and  translations.  His  Essay  on  Satire  appeared  in  1693. 
Aided  by  his  sons,  he  produced  a  complete  translation  of 
Virgil's  Aeneid  (1697)  and  of  extracts  from  Homer,-  Ovid, 
and  Juvenal.  One  of  his  finest  lyrical  poems,  Alexander's 
Feast,  was  composed  in  1697  and  is  usually  considered  a 
better  poem  than  the  popular  Song  for  St.  Cecilia  s  Day 
which  he  had  composed  a  decade  earlier.  Just  before  his 
death  in  1700  he  published  his  Fables,  including  poetical 
paraphrases  from  Ovid,  Boccaccio,  and  Chaucer.  During 
his  later  years  he  was  an  honored  figure,  ruling  as  a  literary 
dictator  at  Will's  Coffee  House  in  London,  and  was  looked 
upon  with  reverence  by  the  younger  writers  of  the  day. 
He  died  in  1700  and  was  buried  near  Chaucer  in  West- 
minster Abbey. 

13.  Significance  of  Dryden.  Unquestionably  Dryden  is 
the  outstanding  literary  man  of  the  Restoration  period.  All 
the  essential  characteristics  of  classicism  are  reflected  in  his 
work.  He  covered  a  wide  range  of  literary  form  with  his 
poems,  his  dramas,  and  his  literary  essays;  what  is  more, 
he  wrote  with  distinct  success  in  each  of  these  forms.  A 
man  of  talent  rather  than  of  genius,  Dryden  was  above  all 
representative  of  his  age.  Few  men  as  versatile  as  Dryden 
have  ranked  higher  in  any  form  of  literary  achievement. 
As  a  satirist  he  stands  in  the  very  front  rank,  and  his  literary 
criticism  is  still  highly  esteemed.  Although  himself  a  classical 
scholar  of  attainment,  he  did  much  to  free  English  prose 
from  the  involved  Latin  constructions  that  hampered  it 
even  in  the  writing  of  so  late  a  master  as  Milton.  Indeed, 
Dryden  may  fairly  be  considered  the  first  of  our  prose 
writers  whose  style  approximates  that  of  the  present  time. 


CHAPTER   VIII 
THE   CLASSICAL  PERIOD 

1.  An  Age  of  Repression.  Classicism  reached  its  height 
during  the  period  usually  spoken  of  as  the  Age  of  Pope 
(1700-1744).  The  critical  standards  that  had  been  es- 
tablished during  the  Restoration  period  were  now  generally 
accepted.  Formalism  was  proclaimed  as  the  keynote  of 
good  art.  It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  form  counted  for 
more  than  substance.  Every  writer  strove  to  observe 
recognized  models  and  thus  be  in  harmony  with  the  pseudo- 
classical  spirit  of  his  age.  A  very  self-satisfied  age  it  was, 
quite  conscious  of  its  superiority  to  what  had  gone  before 
and  ready  to  accept  the  complacent  dictum,  Whatever  is, 
is  right. 

The  leading  men  of  letters  were  all  interested  in  politics, 
which  was  the  one  absorbing  topic  at  all  times.  This  was 
largely  due  to  the  significant  historical  developments  during 
the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century.  William  III  out- 
lived his  wife  Mary  until  1702,  and  after  his  death  Mary's 
surviving  sister,  Queen  Anne,  ascended  the  throne.  The 
new  Queen  was  more  noted  for  her  virtue  than  her  inteUi- 
gence,  but  she  was  at  least  wise  enough  to  intrust  the  direc- 
tion of  affairs  to  the  great  Marlborough.  In  a  series  of 
successful  campaigns  he  won  a  commanding  position  for 
England  and  a  dukedom  for  himself.  Although  the  Queen 
and  Marlborough  both  favored  the  Tories,  that  party  lost 
control  in  1708  to  the  Whigs,  and  the  rest  of  the  reign  was 
a  tense  struggle  for  supremacy.  Queen  Anne  died  in  1714 
and  with  her  the  line  of  Stuarts  ended.    The  crown  passed 

192 


CHARACTER  OF  THE   PERIOD  193 

CO  her  cousin,  the  Elector  of  Hanover,  who  became  George  I 
(reigning  1714-1727),  the  first  of  the  "Four  Georges"  who 
ruled  in  succession  from  1714  to  1830.  With  the  accession 
of  George  I  the  Tory  power  was  completely  broken  until 
1760,  when  George  II  died.  Sir  Robert  Walpole,  an  ac- 
complished though  unscrupulous  statesman,  dominated  the 
reigns  of  the  first  two  Georges  as  Marlborough  had  dominated 
the  preceding  reign. 

2.  Character  of  the  Period.  During  those  years  hterature 
w^as  still  produced  largely  by  those  who  enjoyed  the  patron- 
age of  the  great.  Nearly  every  writer  sought  the  privilege 
of  dedicating  his  books  to  some  nobleman.  While  there 
was  rapid  advance  in  the  development  of  the  manufactur- 
mg  and  commercial  classes,  there  was  virtually  no  sugges- 
tion of  the  great  social  revolution  that  was  impending.  No 
widespread  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  dense  masses  of 
humanity  had  yet  arisen.  Social  life  centered  about  London 
and  its  suburbs.  The  gay  wits  of  the  day  gathered  at  the 
coffee  houses,  of  which  there  were  about  three  thousand  in 
London,  and  exchanged  the  gossip  of  the  moment.  Beneath 
the  smooth  surface  of  the  social  order  there  was  much 
bribery  and  corruption.  London  sought  to  imitate  the 
manner  of  Paris,  but  it  was  still  a  dirty,  ill-paved  city.  At 
night  bands  of  dissolute  rioters  called  Mohawks  infested 
the  streets  to  the  terror  of  respectable  pedestrians. 

The  traditions  of  the  age  discouraged  imagination  in  its 
literature  and  restrained  any  show  of  emotion.  Such  an 
age  is  necessarily  intellectual  and  prosaic,  whether  its 
hterature  is  written  in  prose  or  verse.  The  stage  was  cleaner 
than  during  the  Restoration  period,  and  literature  in  general 
showed  a  higher  moral  tone,  but  there  was  still  much  cyni- 
cism, flippancy,  and  occasional  coarseness.  The  improve- 
ment in  the  drama  was  partly  due  to  the  vigorous  protest 
of  Jeremy  Collier  (1650-1726)  who  published  his  Short  View 
of  the  Immorality  and  Profaneness  of  the  English  Stage  in 


194 


THE  CLASSICAL  PERIOD 


1698.  As  for  the  healthier  tone  of  hterature  during  this 
period,  much  of  the  credit  belongs  to  the  two  friendly  essay- 
ists whose  names  are  always  associated  with  each  other  — 
Joseph  Addison  and  Richard  Steele. 

JOSEPH   ADDISON  (1672-1719) 

3.  Early  Career.  Addison  was  born  in  the  Wiltshire 
village  of  Milston,  where  his  father  was  rector.  He  was 
educated  at  Lichfield  School  and  at  Charterhouse,  where  he 
first  met  Steele.  When  he  went  to  Oxford,  he  attended 
Queen's  College  and  won  a  fellowship  at  Magdalen  College. 
The  beautiful  shaded  pathway  near  the  latter  college  is 
still  known  as  "Addison's  Walk."  He 
was  soon  recognized  as  a  distinguished 
classical  scholar  and  produced  Latin 
poetry  that  won  favorable  comment 
from  Dryden.  It  was  Addison's  inten- 
tion to  enter  the  Church,  but  his 
friends  persuaded  him  to  prepare  for 
the  diplomatic  service.  They  secured 
for  him  a  pension  of  £300  which 
enabled  him  to  travel  extensively  on 
the  continent  and  gain  the  necessary 
experience.  He  lived  in  Paris  for  a 
time,  then  made  the  tour  of  Italy,  and  visited  Vienna. 
When  William  III  died  in  1702,  'Addison's  pension  ceased. 
It  became  necessary  for  him  to  return  to  England,  where  he 
secured  employment  as  a  tutor.  He  became  a  member  of 
the  famous  Kit  Cat  Club,  which  assembled  at  "The  Cat  and 
the  Fiddle"  near  Temple  Bar,  London,  to  talk  pohtics  and 
to  eat  the  excellent  mutton  pies  provided  by  the  host, 
Christopher  Cat.  Addison's  opportunity  to  attract  pubhc 
attention  came  in  1704,  when  he  was  commissioned  to  write 
a  poem  in  honor  of  Marlborough's  victory  at  Blenheim. 
A  great  deal  of  inferior  verse  had  been  written  about  the 


Joseph  Addison 


JOSEPH  ADDISON 


195 


battle,  and  the  ministry  desired  to  have  some  one  write  a 
poem  adequate  to  the  occasion.  The  result  was  The  Cam- 
paign  (1705),  which  won  for  Addison  an  appointment  as 
Under  Secretary  of  State.  In  spite  of  its  influence  on  the 
poet's  fortunes,  it  was  not,  however,  a  work  of  much  merit. 
One  passage  survives  because  of  a  picturesque  simile  descrip- 
tive of  the  confidence  with  which  Marlborough  dominated 
the  battle: 

So  when  an  angel  by  divine  command 
With  rising  tempests  shakes  a  guilty  land. 
Such  as  of  late  o'er  pale  Britannia  past. 
Calm  and  serene,  he  drives  the  furious  blast; 
And  pleas'd  th' Almighty's  orders  to  perform, 
Hides  in  the  whirlwind,  and  directs  the  storm. 

4.  Later  Life.  Addison's  pleasing  personality  won  him 
favor  in  high  places.  He  became  secretary  to  the  Lord 
Lieutenant  of  Ireland, 
and  hkewise  served  in 
Parliament  from  1709 
until  the  end  of  his  life. 
During  1709-1711,  when 
Sir  Richard  Steele  was 
conducting  The  Tatler, 
Addison  became  a  con- 
tributor and  wrote  over 
forty  of  its  271  essays. 
In  1711,  two  months 
after  the  cessation  of  The  Tatler,  he  began  the  publi- 
cation of  The  Spectator  as  a  daily;  later  it  appeared  three 
times  every  week  and  ran  to  a  total  of  635  numbers. 
Other  writers  occasionally  contributed  a  paper,  but  most 
of  the  essays  were  the  work  of  Addison  or  Steele.  The 
most  interesting  sketches  in  The  Spectator  were  the  Sir 
Roger  de  Coverley  Papers,  dealing  with  the  adventures  of 
a  fine  type  of  country  squire  and  his  associates.    One  paper 


Magdalen  College,  Oxford 


196  THE  CLASSICAL  PERIOD 

deals  with  Sir  Roger  at  church,  others  tell  of  him  in  town, 
at  the  play,  or  at  Westminster  Abbey.  We  learn  of  Sir 
Roger's  views  on  sport,  gypsies,  and  witchcraft.  Finally, 
there  is  a  pathetic  account  of  his  death.  Steele  had  the 
honor  of  writing  the  first  Sir  Roger  paper,  but  most  of  the 
others  were  by  Addison.  The  Taller  and  The  Spectator  were 
not  newspapers,  but  periodical  essays  or  editorials  on  sub- 
jects of  current  interest.  They  exerted  considerable  influence 
on  public  opinion  and  provided  subjects  for  gossip  at  the 
coffee  houses.  These  establishments  in  some  respects  re- 
sembled the  clubs  of  a  later  period.  There  men  hke  Addi- 
son and  Steele  soon  won  recognition  as  intellectual  leaders 
and  estabhshed  a  widespread  reputation  for  the  sagacity 
of  their  comment  on  current  affairs. 

Addison's  tragedy  of  Cato,  produced  at  Drury  Lane  in 
1713,  was  regarded  as  a  great  play  in  his  time.  It  was 
written  in  the  approved  classical  style  with  due  considera- 
tion for  the  unities,  but  we  find  it  dull  reading  to-day.  As 
a  poet  Addison  was  most  successful  in  his  hymns,  some  of 
which,  such  as  "The  spacious  firmament  on  high"  and  his 
version  of  the  Twenty-third  Psalm,  are  still  very  popular. 
In  addition  to  his  contributions  to  The  Taller  and  The 
Spectator,  he  also  wrote  for  various  short-lived  periodicals 
such  as  The  Guardian  and  The  Lover.  In  1716  he  married 
the  Countess  of  Warwick  and  lived  in  her  spacious  London 
home,  Holland  House.  He  once  more  took  an  active  interest 
in  politics  and  in  1717  became  Secretary  of  State;  but  his 
health  broke  down  and  he  retired  on  a  pension  of  £1500. 
He  died  in  1719,  at  the  relatively  early  age  of  fifty-seven. 

5.  Addison's  Style.  Among  those  who  knew  Addison 
best  he  was  regarded  as  a  refined,  courtly  gentleman  of 
high  moral  character  who  made  friends  everywhere.  His 
associates  marveled  at  the  calm  manner  m  which  he  domi- 
nated the  ofttimes  turbulent  wits  at  Button's  Coffee  House. 
Swift  said  that  the  people  would  have  elected  Addison  as 


SIR  RICHARD   STEELE 


197 


their  King  if  he  had  sought  the  throne.  His  manner  of 
writing  was  characteristic  of  the  man  himself.  His  poetry 
and  his  attempts  at  drama  may  be  quickly  dismissed.  He 
was  essentially  a  prose  writer  and  has  long  been  accepted  as 
a  great  master  of  English  style.  He  revealed  those  twin 
qualities  —  ease  and  elegance  —  so  eagerly  sought  by  his 
contemporaries.  His  prose  is  marked  by  a  lightness  of  touch 
and  a  grace  that  is  rare  in  earher  writers.  We  have  not 
yet  forgotten  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson's  famous  remark  that  a 
man  who  wishes  to  attain  "an  English  style,  familiar  but 
not  coarse,  and  elegant  but  not  ostentatious,  must  give  his 
days  and  nights  to  the  volumes  of  Addison." 

6.  Sir  Richard  Steele  (1672-1729).  Although  Steele  is  so 
frequently  mentioned  in  connection  with  Addison  because 
of  their  schoolday  friendship 
and  their  joint  literary 
labors,  he  was  a  very  dif- 
ferent sort  of  man.  Steele 
was  born  in  Dublin,  edu- 
cated at  Charterhouse  and 
at  Christ  Church,  Oxford, 
but  left  the  University  with- 
out a  degree.  He  entered 
the  army  and  achieved  the 
rank  of  captain .  His  earliest 
literary  efforts  (after  a  devo- 
tional book  called  The 
Christian  Hero)  were  plays, 
such  as  The  Funeral, 
The  Lying  Lover^  and 

The  Tender  Husband,  but  they  were  loosely  put  together. 
In  moral  tone  they  were  far  superior  to  the  licentious  drama 
of  the  Restoration.  He  was  twice  married  and  both  times 
to  women  of  some  wealth,  but  his  extravagant  habits  kept 
him   continually    in   debt.      Under   the   pseudonym    Isaac 


Sir  Richard  Steele 


198 


THE  CLASSICAL  PERIOD 


Bickerstaff  he  conducted  The  Taller  (1709-1711),  which 
appeared  three  times  a  week,  and  he  wrote  about  two-thirds 
of  its  271  papers.  He  served  as  Commissioner  of  the  Stamp 
OflBce  and  in  Parliament.  When  Addison  started  The 
SpectaioVf  Steele  became  a  frequent  contributor  and  wrote 
about  240  of  the  635  essays.  It  is  regrettable  that  in  1718 
he  became  involved  in  a  political  quarrel  with  Addison,  and 
each  sharply  attacked  the  other  in  print.  Unfortunately 
they  were  still  unreconciled  at  the  time  of  Addison's  death. 

During  the  later  years  of 
his  erratic  life  Steele 
lived  in  Wales,  where  his 
enemies  said  he  had  fled 
to  escape  his  numerous 
creditors.  He  died  there 
in  1729. 

Steele,  although  pos- 
sessing his  share  of 
human  failings,  was  a 
more  lovable  man  than 
Addison.  Their  contem- 
poraries admired  and 
respected  Addison  and 
sought  his  friendship,  but  they  rarely  achieved  real  intimacy 
with  him.  Steele  had  a  lively  imagination,  sincere  sympathy 
for  the  afflicted,  and  a  keen  sense  of  humor.  He  belonged 
to  the  happy-go-lucky  type  of  men,  like  Oliver  Goldsmith, 
who  throw  off  their  troubles  easily  and  let  others  do  the 
worrying.  His  letters  reveal  a  personality  that  was  tender 
and  amiable,  but  his  faults  must  have  made  him  a  great  care 
to  those  who  were  inclined  to  be  his  best  friends. 

^  JONATHAN   SWIFT  (1667-1745) 

'  7.  An  Unhappy  Youth.  Swift  was  born  in  Dublin,  1667, 
of  English  descent.     His  father,  who  was  a  cousin  of  John 


Christ  Church,  Oxford 


JONATHAN  SWIFT 


199 


Dryden,  died  before  Swift  was  born,  leaving  a  widow  in 
very  poor  circumstances.  In  spite  of  his  great  pride,  Swift 
was  compelled  to  accept  help  from  relatives  who  had  him 
educated  at  Kilkenny  School  and  at  Trinity  College,  Dublin. 
He  did  excellent  work  in  the  classics,  but  failed  in  theology 
and  philosophy;  as  a  result  he  received  his  degree  by  a 
special  dispensation.  After  leaving  college  he  went  to  Eng- 
land, where  he  served  for  nearly  ten  years  as  private  secretary 
to  his  distant  kinsman,  Sir  William  Temple,  who  dwelt  at 
Moor  Park,  in  Surrey. 
Although  he  lived  in  the 
most  pleasant  surroundings. 
Swift  chafed  at  his  sub- 
servient position  on  a  salary 
of  £20  a  year.  After  a 
quarrel  with  Temple  he  left 
in  1694,  but  he  did  not 
hesitate  to  ask  Temple  a 
year  later  to  recommend 
him  for  holy  orders.  He 
secured  an  appointment  to 
the  small  parish  of  Kilroot 
in  Ireland,  but  soon  grew 
impatient  at  his  position 
and  returned  to  Moor 
Park.  There  he  had  ample  opportunity  for  study  and 
evidently  used  his  time  to  good  advantage.  He  also  acted 
as  tutor  for  Esther  Johnson,  a  girl  who  then  lived  at  Moor 
Park,  and  who  figured  in  his  later  life  under  the  name  of 
Stella.  When  Sir  William  Temple  died  in  1699,  Swift  re- 
turned to  Ireland  as  chaplain  to  the  Earl  of  Berkeley  and 
held  various  church  livings,  including  that  of  Laracor,  a 
village  about  twenty  miles  from  Dublin. 

8.  Early  Satires.     In   1704   he  published  a  remarkable 
satire  entitled  The  Battle  of  the  Books^  which  had  been  written 


Jonathan  Swift 


200  THE  CLASSICAL  PERIOD 

seven  years  earlier.  Sir  William  some  time  before  his  death 
had  brought  out  an  essay  on  the  relative  merits  of  ancient 
and  modern  learning,  and  had  become  hopelessly  involved 
in  literary  controversy  with  the  scholars  of  his  age.  Swift 
came  to  his  rescue  and  incidentally  revealed  the  remarkable 
range  of  his  own  reading.  In  the  course  of  his  argument 
in  favor  of  ancient  writers  he  compared  the  ancients  to  bees 
and  the  moderns  to  spiders.  The  ancients  could  therefore 
contend  that 

**  instead  of  dirt  and  poison,  we  have  chosen  to  fill  our 
hives  with  honey  and  wax;  thus  furnishing  mankind  with  the 
two  noblest  of  things,  which  are  sweetness  and  hght.*' 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  this  phrase,  "sweetness  and 
light,"  of  which  Matthew  Arnold  made  so  much  in  his  essays, 
should  have  originated  with  the  most  inorbid  pessimist  in 
Enghsh  literature.  The  Tale  of  a  Tub  (1704)  was  a  religious 
satire  in  allegorical  form.  Three  brothers  named  Peter  (the 
Catholic  Church),  Martin  (the  Lutheran  Church),  and  Jack 
(the  Dissenting  churches)  are  represented  as  quarreling 
over  their  father's  will.  In  his  eagerness  to  make  effective 
satiric  thrusts  at  eacli  of  the  sects.  Swift  wrote  with  levity 
and  in  places  was  even  grossly  irreverent.  This  book,  more 
than  any  other,  stood  in  his  way  when  Swift  later  sought 
preferment  in  the  Church.  Another  satire  that  was  doubt- 
less harmful  to  his  interests  was  his  Argument  against  Abolish- 
ing Christianity  (1708),  in  which  he  gave  an  instance  of  his 
ironical  power  at  its  best  by  taking  the  ground  that  Christian- 
ity had  been  abolished  and  offering  some  feeble  arguments 
for  its  retention  a  little  while  longer. 

9.  A  Literary  Joke.  Swift's  fame  as  a  humorist  became 
widespread  as  a  result  of  a  prank  played  on  a  poor  fellow 
named  John  Partridge,  originally  a  shoemaker,  who  had 
turned  to  the  writing  of  almanacs  filled  with  the  usual 
astrological   forecasts.     Swift,    under   the   name   of   Isaac 


JONATHAN   SWIFT 


201 


Trinity  College,  Dublin 


Bickerstaff,  Esq.,  published  his  Predictions  for  the  Year  1708, 
in  which,  among  other  absurdities,  he  announced  the  pro- 
spective death  of  Partridge  on  the  following  29th  of  March, 
about  eleven  at  night,  of  a  raging  fever.  Soon  after  that  day 
he  pubHshed  another  paper  giving  an  amusing  and  detailed 
account  of  Partridge's  la^t  moments.  Partridge  indignantly- 
protested  to  his  customers  that  he  was  not  dead  at  all; 
Bickerstaff  replied  that 
Partridge  must  un- 
doubtedly be  dead  by  all 
the  laws  of  astrology. 
Poor  Partridge  spent  the 
remaining  seven  years  of 
his  life  in  a  somewhat 
unsuccessful  attempt  to 
convince  the  former  pur- 
chasers of  his  almanac  that  he  was  still  alive.  The  name  of 
Isaac  Bickerstaff  became  so  popular  as  a  result  of  this  joke 
that  Steele  adopted  it  in  1709  when  he  started  The  Tatler. 

10.  Stella  and  Politics.  Swift  had  become  much  attached 
to  Stella  and  from  1710  to  1713  wrote  to  her  his  Journal  to 
Stella,  in  which  he  revealed  a  tender  aspect  of  his  nature 
that  would  be  unsuspected  from  reading  his  other  works. 
As  those  letters  were  not  intended  for  publication,  he  ex- 
pressed himself  freely  concerning  his  experiences,  his  as- 
sociates, and  his  ambitions.  During  those  same  years 
London  knew  him  best  as  an  arrogant  pohtical  pamphleteer, 
conscious  of  his  great  gift  of  satire  and  insolent  in  his  bearing 
toward  friend  and  foe.  The  Tories  encouraged  Swift  to 
expect  a  bishopric  as  a  reward  for  his  writings,  but  he  secured 
only  the  deanery  of  St.  Patrick's  in  Dublin.  To  Swift's 
bitter  disappointment  this  necessitated  his  return  to  Ireland, 
where  he  continued  to  live  for  the  remaining  thirty  years  o£ 
his  life.  There  is  a  tradition  that  he  secretly  married  Stella 
in  1716,  but  the  fact  has  never  been  established.     In  1724 


202 


THE   CLASSICAL  PERIOD 


he  championed  the  cause  of  Ireland  in  his  Drapier*s  Letters, 
protesting  against  a  debased  coinage  for  Ireland,  which  was 
threatened  by  a  privilege  granted  to  an  Englishman  to  coin 
copper  half-pence  there.  His  success  in  defeating  the  scheme 
made  him  a  hero  in  the  eyes  of  the  Irish.  He  was,  however, 
wretchedly  unhappy  in  that  country  and  often  referred  to 
it  in  contemptuous  words. 

11.  Gulliver's  Travels.  The  one  work  by  which  Swift  is 
best  remembered  to-day  is  Gulliver's  Travels  (1726),  the 
delight  of  young  people  who  enjoy  reading  about  Lilliput, 

the  land  where  grown 
human  beings  were  less 
than  six  inches  high, 
and  about  Brobdingnag, 
where  men  were  giants 
sixty  feet  high  and 
everything  else  was  in 
proportion.  The  chil- 
dren do  not  under- 
stand that  Swift  had 
no  intention  of  writing 
a  book  for  their  enter- 
tainment. Older  per- 
sons realize  that  it  is  one  of  the  bitterest,  most  pessimistic 
satires  ever  written.  It  is  really  not  a  story  about  dwarfs  and 
giants,  but  an  allegory  exposing  the  petty  meanness  and  the 
glaring  vices  of  the  human  race.  He  lashes  mankind  for  its 
frailties  and  shortcomings,  heaping  ridicule  on  its  philoso- 
phers, its  inventors,  and  its  scholars;  and  finally,  in  the 
half-mad  frenzy  of  the  concluding  part  of  the  book,  he 
decides  that  horses  are  cleaner  and  more  decent  creatures 
than  men.  There  is  pungent  wit  and  inexcusable  coarseness 
in  Swift's  savage  arraignment  of  humanity;  also,  unfortu- 
nately, there  is  no  ray  of  hope  for  better  things  to  come. 
Swift's  misanthropy  was  due  to  various  causes.     While 


Fainting  by  Redgrave 

Gulliver  in  Brobdingnag 


JONATHAN  SWIFT  203 

most  other  writers  skimmed  over  the  surface  of  contemporary 
life,  or  at  most  criticized  with  restrained  irony,  Swift  delved 
into  the  depths  and  saw  the  social  corruption  at  its  worst. 
He  felt  that  his  own  life  was  a  failure,  and  he  imagined  the 
same  was  true  of  most  persons.  It  is  charitable  to  believe 
that  part  of  his  bitterness  resulted  from  the  gradually  decay- 
ing mental  vigor  that  marked  his  later  years. 

12.  A  Tragic  End.  Swift  paid  his  last  visit  to  England 
in  1727.  The  death  of  George  I  gave  him  some  hope  that 
he  might  receive  political  favor,  but  he  was  again  disap- 
pointed. His  dear  friend  Stella  died  in  1728  after  a  lin- 
gering illness,  and  Swift  left  among  his  shorter  papers  a 
sympathetic  descriptive  sketch  which  he  wrote  immediately 
after  her  death.  Among  his  remarkable  satirical  pamphlets 
there  was  none  in  w^hich  his  irony  was  more  effectually  em- 
ployed than  in  his  Modest  Proposal  for  Preventing  the  Children 
of  Ireland  from  being  a  Burden  to  their  Parents  or  Country. 
In  apparent  seriousness  he  proposed  that  the  children  be 
fattened  and  sold  to  the  London  meat-market.  He  estimated 
that  Ireland  could  dispose  of  100,000  youngsters  annually 
at  ten  shillings  each  to  the  great  profit  of  all  concerned, 
and  that  a  fat  yearling  child,  roasted  whole,  would  be  much 
enjoyed  at  a  Lord  Mayor's  banquet.  Foreign  authors  who 
did  not  grasp  the  irony  of  Swift's  pamphlet,  quoted  it 
seriously  as  an  evidence  of  the  distressing  state  of  Ireland. 

In  addition  to  his  prose  works.  Swift  wrote  considerable 
verse,  but  his  experiments  in  meter  are  less  important. 
Dryden  once  said  to  him,  "Cousin  Sw^ift,  you  will  never  be  a 
poet,"  and  Dryden  spoke  with  authority  in  such  matters. 
A  poem  called  Cadenus  and  Vanessa  was  addressed  to 
Esther  Vanhomrigh,  with  whom  he  was  at  one  time  very 
friendly,  and  who  is  said  to  have  died  of  grief  at  the  rumor 
of  his  marriage  to  Stella.  In  1731  he  chose  the  startling 
subject,  On  the  Death  of  Dr.  Swift,  and  wrote  his  own  poetical 
obituary.    His  caustic  style  is  revealed  in  these  lines : 


204  THE  CLASSICAL  PERIOD 

From  Dublin  soon  to  London  spread, 
'Tis  told  at  court,  "  The  dean  is  dead.'* 
And  Lady  Suffolk  in  her  spleen, 
Kuns  laughing  up  to  tell  the  Queen. 
The  Queen,  so  gracious,  mild,  and  good. 
Cries,  *'  Is  he  gone!  'tis  time  he  should. 
He's  dead,  you  say;  then  let  him  rot." 

About  1738  the  symptoms  of  his  mental  affliction  became 
more  apparent.  His  age  knew  little  of  the  proper  treatment 
for  such  cases  and  usually  resorted  to  measures  that  soon 
brought  the  victim  to  the  strait-jacket  and  the  lunatic 
asylum.  Swift  had  once  observed  a  tree  that  had  been 
struck  and  withered  by  lightning  and  had  remarked,  "I 
shall  be  like  that  tree.  I  shall  die  at  the  top  first."  On 
another  occasion  he  wrote  that  he  would  die  like  a  poisoned 
rat  in  a  hole.  He  continued  hopelessly  insane  until  his 
death  in  1745.  He  was  buried  in  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral, 
by  the  side  of  his  Stella.  On  his  tomb  were  inscribed  the 
words  that  he  had  chosen : 

Ubi  saeva  indignatio  cor  ulterius  lacerare  nequit 

(Where  bitter  indignation  can  no  longer  lacerate  the  heart). 

Much  of  his  fortune  was  left  to  establish  St.  Patrick's  Hospital 
for  the  insane. 

There  are  few  careers  in  literature  more  pathetic  than 
Swift's.  From  the  first  he  seemed  to  be  at  odds  with  the 
world  and  ready  to  devote  his  fine  talents  to  satirizing  his 
age  and  the  men  about  him.  His  lampoons  and  his  sneers 
made  him  a  writer  to  be  feared  and  hated,  but  such  a  reputa- 
tion meant  that  much  of  his  influence  would  die  with  him. 
Only  the  learned  scholar,  interested  in  the  quarrels  and  the 
controversies  of  that  age,  will  go  deeply  into  Swift's  writings; 
for  the  rest  the  great  satirist  is  to-day  merely  the  author  of 
an  entertaining  story  of  an  English  traveler  who  visited  the 
remarkable  lands  of  Lilliput  and  Brobdinj^ag. 


ALEXANDER  POPE 


205 


ALEXANDER   POPE  (1688-1744) 

13.  A  Precocious  Youth.  Alexander  Pope  was  born  in 
London  in  1688,  only  a  few  months  before  the  Catholic 
King,  James  II,  was  driven  from  the  throne.  His  father, 
who  had  been  a  prosperous  linen-dealer,  was  a  devout 
Catholic  and  would  not  support  the  new  Protestant  King, 
William  III.  The  elder  Pope  accordingly  left  London, 
taking  with  him  a  fortune  of  some  £20,000,  and  settled  in 
Binfield,  near  Windsor  Forest,  where  he  dwelt  in  quiet  com- 
fort and  devoted  himself  to  the 
training  of  his  sickly,  deformed  son. 
Because  of  Pope's  religion  it  was 
impossible  for  him  to  attend  either 
Oxford  or  Cambridge  at  that  time, 
so  in  spite  of  some  elementary 
schooling,  he  was  virtually  a  self- 
educated  man.  His  frail  body  pre- 
vented his  indulging  in  the  boister- 
ous pastimes  so  dear  to  growing 
boys,  and  he  accordingly  found 
solace  in  books  and  study.  At 
the  age  of  eleven  he  was  once  taken 
to  Will's  Coffee  House  where  he 
caught  a  glimpse  of  the  great  Dry  den.  The  next  year  ne 
made  his  first  serious  attempts  at  poetry.  As  he  later  ex- 
pressed it,  with  characteristic  lack  of  modesty: 

As  yet  a  child,  not  yet  a  fool  to  fame 

I  lisp'd  in  numbers,  for  the  numbers  came. 


Alexander  Pope 


He  developed  a  remarkable  precocity  that  resulted  in  his 
writing  at  the  age  of  seventeen  a  group  of  pastoral  poems 
characterized  by  admirable  metrical  skill  and  maturity  of 
thought.  As  he  approached  manhood  his  intellect  became 
even  more  alert,  but  his  dwarfed  physique  made  him  morbid 


206  THE  CLASSICAL  PERIOD 

and  sensitive.  He  became  absurdly  jealous  of  those  who 
enjoyed  good  health,  or  who  were  robust  and  well-built. 

14.  Essay  on  Criticism.  In  1711  Pope  brought  out  his 
first  important  poem,  his  Essay  on  Criticism,  in  which  he 
incorporated  critical  ideas  borrowed  from  Horace  and  from 
the  French  critic  Boileau.  The  terse  epigrammatic  style  of 
the  poem  and  the  polished  couplets  soon  made  Pope  the 
most  widely  discussed  writer  in  London.  In  the  Essay  on 
Criticism  we  find  such  memorable  lines  as  these: 

**  A  little  learning  is  a  dangerous  thing." 

**  To  err  is  human,  to  forgive  divine." 

**  For  fools  rush  in  where  angels  fear  to  tread." 

The  fact  that  so  many  ill-informed  persons  regard  these 
familiar  quotations  as  passages  from  Shakespeare  is  in  itself 
a  fine  tribute  to  the  young  poet. 

Among  the  more  notable  couplets  of  the  poem  are  the 
following : 

"  'Tis  with  our  judgments  as  our  watches;  none 
Go  just  alike  yet  each  believes  his  own." 

"  We  think  our  fathers  fools,  so  wise  we  grow; 
Our  wiser  sons,  no  doubt,  will  think  us  so." 

"  Words  are  like  leaves,  and  where  they  most  abound 
Much  fruit  of  sense  beneath  is  seldom  found." 

Perhaps  the  most  widely  quoted  extract  from  the  poem  is : 

In  words  as  fashions  the  same  rule  will  hold. 
Alike  fantastic  if  too  new  or  old; 
Be  not  the  first  by  whom  the  new  is  tried. 
Nor  yet  the  last  to  lay  the  old  aside. 

The  literary  success  attending  the  publication  of  the  Essay 
on  Criticism  brought  Pope  into  the  best  social  circles  in 
London.  Doubtless  he  was  much  pleased  with  the  nice 
things  that  Addison  said  about  him  in  The  Spectator,  but  in 
due  time  he  lampooned  Addison  as  he  did  the  smaller  fry. 


ALEXANDER  POPE 


207 


15.  The  Rape  of  the  Lock.  Pope's  poetical  masterpiece 
was  The  Rape  of  the  Lock  (1712),  a  mock-heroic  poem  based 
on  actual  incidents.     A  certain  Lord  Petre  had  snipped  a 

lock   of    hair    from    the  

head  of  Miss  Arabella 
Fermor.  The  lady's  in- 
dignation over  what  his 
Lordship  considered  a 
trivial  matter  led  to  bit- 
ter feeling  between  their 
respective  families. 
Pope  composed  his  poem 
to  bring  about  a  recon- 
ciliation between  the 
parties  at  odds  and, 
although  he  failed  to 
placate  the  injured 
beauty,  succeeded  in 
writing  one  of  the  most 
charming  poems  of  the 
age.  Even  those  critics 
who  have  little  sympathy 
for  the  artificiality  and 
glitter  of  its  style  accord 


Drawing  by  Beardsley 

The  Rape  of  the  Lock 


it  high  praise  as  a  picture  of  contemporary  manners  in  high 
social  circles.    Note  the  fair  BeHnda  at  her  toilet: 

Now  awful  beauty  puts  on  all  its  arms; 
The  fair  each  moment  rises  in  her  charms. 
Repairs  her  smiles,  awakens  every  grace, 
And  calls  forth  all  the  wonders  of  her  face; 
See  by  degrees  a  purer  blush  arise. 
And  keener  lightnings  quicken  in  her  eyes. 


Was  ever  rouge  applied  more  delicately?    Later  in  the  day 
she  has  coffee  at  Hampton  Court: 


^08 


THE  CLASSICAL  PERIOD 


For  lo!  the  board  with  cups  and  spoons  is  crown*d. 
The  berries  crackle,  and  the  mill  turns  round; 
On  shining  altars  of  Japan  they  raise 
The  silver  lamp;  the  fiery  spirits  blaze: 
From  silver  spouts  the  grateful  liquors  glide. 
While  China's  earth  receives  the  smoking  tide. 

It  is  a  shallow,  contemptible  kind  of  life  that  Pope  de- 
scribes, with  its  lap-dogs,  its  billets-doux,  its  pet  parrots,  its 
gossip,  its  puffs  and  patches,  and  its  snuff-boxes,  but  the 
immediate  success  of  this  epic  established  him  as  the  leading 
poet  of  the  day. 

16.  The  Translation  of  Homer.  Although  the  Essay  on 
Criticism  and  The  Rape  of  the  Lock  assured  Pope's  literary 
supremacy,  they  added  little  to  the  author's  income.  He 
found  it  necessary  to  undertake  a  larger  literary  task  that 
promised  adequate  financial  return.  Accordingly  he  de- 
termined to  translate 
Homer's  Iliad  and 
Odyssey  into  English 
classical  couplets  such  as 
he  could  fashion  more 
skilfully  than  any  other 
poet.  In  view  of  his  im- 
perfect knowledge  of 
Greek  he  wisely  enlisted 
the  assistance  of  several 
scholars,  but  even  then 
he  felt  free  to  depart  from 
the  literal  rendering  of 
the  Greek  text  to  record  what  he  considered  the  spirit  of 
Homer's  intention  rather  than  his  precise  words.  In  fact, 
it  is  likely  that  Pope  felt  quite  capable  of  "improving" 
Homer  by  what  he  did.  For  this  license  he  was  much 
criticized  by  the  classical  scholars  of  his  day.  "A  very 
pretty  poem,  Mr.  Pope,"  said  Bentley,  the  eminent  critic. 


Pope's  Villa  at  Twickenham 


ALEXANDER  POPE  209 

"but  you  must  not  call  it  Homer.**  Posterity,  however, 
has  confirmed  the  immediate  popular  verdict  that  Pope's 
Homer  is  one  of  the  most  spirited  translations  in  literature. 
Although  the  Iliad  appeared  in  1720  and  the  Odysserj  in 
1725-1726,  they  are  still  widely  read  in  preference  to  the 
literal  translations  since  prepared  by  more  scholarly  but 
less  brilliant  authors.  His  profits  of  nearly  £9000  on 
Homer  must  be  reckoned  as  having  a  purchasing  power  of 
over  three  times  as  much  as  to-day.  Needless  to  add,  the 
lucky  publishers  made  still  larger  profits,  though  Pope's 
humble  assistants,  two  University  men  named  Elijah  Broome 
and  William  Fenton,  received  only  £760  between  them. 
With  his  sudden  access  of  wealth  Pope  purchased  for  himself 
a  substantial  annuity  and  a  lovely  villa  at  Twickenham  on 
the  Thames,  a  few  miles  west  of  London.  There  he  in- 
dulged his  fancy  for  landscape  gardening  and  w^elcomed  to 
his  charming  home  the  great  group  of  literary  men  who 
were  ready  to  bum  incense  at  his  shrine  as  literary  dictator 
of  the  age. 

17.  The  Quarrelsome  Years.  While  he  was  engaged  on 
his  translation  of  Homer,  Pope  found  time  to  prepare  an 
edition  of  Shakespeare,  which  appeared  in  1725.  He  had 
few  qualifications  for  that  scholarly  task  and  his  edition  is 
accordingly  of  little  value.  Some  of  his  enemies  soon  recog- 
nized that  fact,  and  one  Lewis  Theobald,  who  knew  far  more 
about  Shakespeare  than  Pope  did,  published  a  pamphlet 
which  was  very  plainly  entitled,  Shakespeare  Restored;  or. 
Specimens  of  Blunders  Committed  and  Unamended  in  Pope's 
Edition  of  this  Poet.  Pope  was  not  long  in  plotting  his 
revenge  against  Theobald  and  his  kind.  Uncertain  health 
and  a  frail  physique  had  made  Pope  an  irritable  man. 
Throughout  his  life  he  needed  a  servant  to  dress  him  in  the 
various  rigid  garments  that  incased  his  body  when  he  sat 
erect  or  walked.  x\s  the  years  passed  he  developed  those 
meaner  traits  of  humanity — his  trickery,  his  readiness  to 


210  THE  CLASSICAL  PERIOD 

lie  if  it  served  his  purpose,  his  miserhness,  his  jealousy  of 
other  writers  —  that  characterized  his  later  life.  In  1728 
his  hatred  of  his  many  enemies  was  voiced  in  a  savage 
satire  called  The  Dunciad,  in  which  Theobald  was  repre- 
sented enthroned  as  King  of  the  Dunces  and  other  men  of 
letters  were  caustically  lampooned.  Those  assailed  by  Pope 
naturally  repUed  in  similar  vein  and  embittered  him  by 
jocose  references  to  his  physical  deformity  or  his  tempera- 
mental peculiarities.  If  his  admirers  called  him  "the  little 
nightingale'*  or  "the  swan  of  the  Thames,"  there  were  also 
others  who  spoke  of  him  as  "the  hunch-backed  toad"  or 
"the  wicked  wasp  of  Twickenham."  During  his  later  years 
he  wrote  his  philosophical  and  moral  poems  which,  in  spite 
of  their  considerable  merit,  are  rather  neglected  to-day. 
His  Essay  on  Man  (1733),  which  sought  to  vindicate  the 
Divine  purpose  in  guiding  the  affairs  of  the  world,  was 
based  on  this  thesis: 

And  spite  of  pride,  in  erring  reason's  spite. 
One  truth  is  clear,  whatever  is,  is  right. 

If  our  hurried  world  is  too  busy  nowadays  to  read  this 
admirable  summary  of  the  philosophical  attitude  of  that  age, 
we  should  at  least  not  forget  that  in  this  poem  we  are  re- 
minded that 

The  proper  study  of  mankind  is  man 
and  that 

An  honest  man's  the  noblest  work  of  God. 

Pope's  Epistle  to  Dr.  Arbuthnot  (1734)  is  a  vigorous  satire 
in  which  we  find  the  same  twitting  of  his  literary  enemies  as 
in  The  Dunciad.  The  poem  is  especially  notorious  for  its 
malicious  attack  on  Addison  under  the  name  of  Atticus, 
who  was  described  as  one  accustomed  to 

Damn  with  faint  praise,  assent  with  civil  leer, 
And  without  sneering,  teach  the  rest  to  sneer. 


ALEXANDER  POPE  Sll 

What  Pope  said  of  Addison  in  those  mean  Hnes  was  untrue; 
but,  as  he  well  knew,  it  was  near  enough  to  the  truth  to 
accomplish  its  purpose.  In  1743  he  revised  and  extended 
The  Dunciad  to  bring  it  up  to  date  by  including  the  many 
Hterary  enemies  whom  he  had  made  since  1728,  and  to  en- 
throne CoUey  Gibber  as  a  new  King  of  Dulness  in  place  of 
Theobald.  Gibber,  although  a  popular  actor  and  dramatist, 
was  not  a  poet  of  any  ability,  yet  he  had  been  made  Poet 
Laureate  and  offered  a  shining  mark  for  Pope's  sharp  wit. 
It  is  incredible  to  us  that  a  man  of  Pope's  intelligence  should 
have  felt  it  necessary  to  pay  off  petty  scores  against  his 
various  literary  foes,  most  of  whom  were  wretched  Grub- 
Street  writers.  The  life  that  had  been  "one  long  disease" 
came  to  an  end  in  1744.  Pope  was  buried  in  the  church  at 
Twickenham. 

18.  The  Significance  of  Pope.  No  other  writer  of  the 
entire  classical  period  handled  the  heroic  couplet  with  such 
consummate  skill  as  Pope.  Having  attained  mastery  of  the 
form  early  in  life,  he  employed  it  with  lasting  success  for 
the  expression  of  a  wide  range  of  subjects.  To  be  sure,  the 
ideas  expressed  are  usually  prosaic  ideas.  They  represent 
no  flight  of  the  poet's  imagination,  no  subtle  thought  pro- 
claimed for  the  first  time.  They  were  for  the  most  part  the 
current  philosophy  of  the  age,  more  adroitly  expressed  than 
by  any  one  before  Pope.  There  were  few  phases  of  the  life 
of  his  period  that  did  not  find  reflection  somewhere  in  his 
verse.  Shakespeare  alone  gave  a  greater  number  of  quotable 
lines  to  our  literature.  Pope  was  the  first  EngHsh  writer  of 
eminence  who  made  the  writing  of  poetry  a  profession. 
He  had  no  great  message  for  the  world  and  showed  no  en- 
thusiasm for  high  social  ideals.  He  felt  content  to  voice 
the  spirit  of  a  pseudo-classical  age  that  was  supremely 
satisfied  with  itself  and  that  recognized  in  his  writings  its 
most  perfect  exponent.  Later  ages  reversed  the  belief  of 
the  classicists  that  they  represented  the  highest  attainment 


212  THE   CLASSICAL  PERIOD 

of  literary  art,  but  in  tlie  realm  of  formal,  artificial  expression 
Pope  remains  the  supreme  master. 


THE   RISE  OF  THE   NOVEL 

19.  Beginnings.  The  story  of  English  fiction  is  a  long 
one,  really  covering  the  entire  range  of  literature  from  the 
days  of  Bemvulf,  the  legendaries,  the  medieval  romances, 
and  the  tales  of  adventure  to  the  carefully  wrought  novel  of 
the  present  day.  Mankind  is  always  interested  in  a  good 
tale,  well  told,  and  will  give  attention  whenever  there  is 
prospect  of  entertainment.  The  earliest  stories  were  fanciful 
narratives  of  personal  prowess  or  of  knightly  adventure  in 
war  or  in  tournament.  During  the  age  of  Elizabeth  a  new 
sentimental  theme  was  introduced  in  the  romantic  love-story, 
in  which  the  adventures  and  misadventures  of  true  lovers 
assumed  more  importance  than  the  other  elements  of  the 
tale.  Such  romances  as  Sidney's  Arcadia,  Lodge's  Rosalynde, 
and  Greene's  Pandosto  were  all  of  that  class.  A  new  type  of 
story  that  achieved  popularity  in  Elizabeth's  day  was  the 
picaresque  tale,  named  after  the  Spanish  picarOy  meaning 
a  rogue.  These  stories  recounted  the  experiences  of*  some 
rogue  or  rascal  who  was  constantly  playing  tricks  on  other 
persons.  Thomas  Nash  (1567-1601)  introduced  this  form  of 
fiction  into  England  in  1594,  when  he  wrote  The  Unfortunate 
Traveller,  or  the  Life  of  Jack  Wilton.  There  were  few  early 
writers  who  sought  to  write  realistic  stories  in  the  sense  that 
we  understand  reahsm  to-day,  but  Thomas  Deloney  (1543.^- 
1607?),  who  had  wandered  widely  about  England  and  had 
seen  a  great  deal  of  life,  wrote  The  Gentle  Craft,  a  collection 
of  short  stories  about  shoemakers,  and  also  Jack  of  Newbery, 
relating  the  experiences  of  a  weaver.  In  these  narratives 
the  aim  of  the  author  was  primarily  to  tell  a  story,  not  to 
depict  human  character. 

During   the   seventeenth   century   there   was   a   notable 


THE   RISE   OF   THE   NOVEL  213 

development  in  the  field  of  allegorical  fiction.  Bunyan's 
Pilgrim's  Progress  was  the  best  of  these  allegories,  but  it  did 
not  indicate  the  main  course  that  English  fiction  was  destined 
to  take.  Mrs.  Aphra  Behn  (1640-1689),  who  wrote  a  great 
many  short  tales  of  adventure  and  intrigue,  has  been  generally 
neglected  because  of  the  vulgarity  evident  in  much  of  her 
work,  but  she  deserves  credit  for  writing  in  Oroonoko  (pub- 
lished 1698)  the  first  Enghsh  story  with  a  humane  intention, 
in  its  exposure  of  the  horrors  of  the  African  slave-trade. 
This  story  should  likewise  be  accepted  as  a  step  forward  in 
the  direction  of  the  novel  as  we  now  understand  that  literary 
form. 

20.  New  Elements.  Literary  men  like  Sir  Thomas  Over- 
bury  (1581-1613)  and  John  Earle  (1601-1665)  who  practiced 
the  art  of  writing  "characters"'  contributed  their  share 
toward  the  development  of  English  fiction.  Usually  these 
"characters"  were  delineations  wrought  in  a  single  essay 
as  a  hterary  exercise,  but  in  The  Taller,  The  Spectator,  and 
elsewhere  we  find  such  "characters"  continued  from  one 
paper  to  another  and  worked  out  with  a  detail  that  makes 
for  distmctive  personaHty,  as  in  the  case  of  Sir  Roger  de 
Coverley.  In  spite  of  the  difficulties  that  beset  Addison  in 
gradually  developing  the  character  of  Sir  Roger  de  Coverley, 
he  succeeded  in  making  his  country  squire  a  most  notable 
personality.  Few  novefists  of  later  days  have  given  us  so 
lovable  a  figure  as  this  fine  old  specimen  of  English  knight- 
hood. Sir  Roger  was  no  less  conspicuously  important  in 
his  famihar  rustic  surroundings  than  he  was  quaintly  out 
of  place  in  his  rambles  about  London,  yet  he  was  every  inch 
a  gentleman  at  all  times.  Although  Addison  did  not  write 
a  novel,  he  had  the  honor  of  delineating  one  of  the  really 
memorable  characters  in  the  range  of  English  fiction.  The 
prose  satire,  brought  to  such  a  high  stage  of  development  by 
Swift,  Hkewise  showed  a  trend  toward  the  novel,  but  in 
Swift's  satires  the  question  of  character  portrayal  received 


214  THE  CLASSICAL  PERIOD 

scant  attention.  It  is  clear  that  the  tale  of  adventure,  the 
romantic  love-story,  the  "character,"  and  the  satire  each 
contributed  something  toward  the  form  that  we  call  the 
novel,  yet  each  in  some  respect  fell  short  of  that  ideal.  The 
novel  required  not  merely  a  story,  or  a  description  of  in- 
dividuals, or  satiric  comment  on  life,  but  a  realistic  or 
romantic  portrayal  of  existence,  involving  the  development 
of  character  under  the  conditions  described  in  the  narrative. 
In  the  stories  written  by  Daniel  DeFoe  we  find  the  nearest 
approach  to  the  novel  of  later  days.  In  DeFoe 's  works, 
however,  the  adventures  or  incidents  are  related  for  their 
own  sake,  whereas  a  true  novel  would  treat  such  experiences 
in  the  light  of  their  relation  to  a  convincing  portrayal  of 
life  and  the  development  of  personality.  DeFoe's  fiction 
lacked  mainly  the  element  of  definite  plot-construction  and 
the  delineation  of  the  influence  of  the  narrated  events  upon 
the  persons  concerned.  Another  point  of  difference  between 
such  stories  as  DeFoe's  and  the  first  regular  novels  by 
Richardson  and  Fielding  is  that  of  probability.  DeFoe 
usually  sought  to  interest  his  reader  by  relating  unusual 
experiences  and  stressed  the  experiences;  Richardson  and 
Fielding  narrated  adventures  that  were  happening  daily  in 
the  lives  of  persons  about  them  and  stressed  the  charac- 
terization of  the  persons  concerned.  DeFoe's  account  of  an 
English  mariner  cast  away  on  a  desert  island  is  a  story  of 
adventure;  but  Richardson's  account  of  the  love-affair  of 
an  English  servant-girl  is  a  novel. 

DANIEL   DEFOE   (1659P-1731) 

21.  An  Erratic  Career.  DeFoe  was  born  in  London, 
either  in  1659  or  in  1661,  and  was  the  son  of  a  butcher  who 
gave  his  boy  a  fair  education  in  the  hope  of  making  a  minister 
of  him.  DeFoe,  however,  became  in  turn  a  commission-^ 
merchant,  a  soldier,  a  liveryman,  a  tile-maker,  a  bankrupt, 
a  journalist,  a  secret  agent  of  the  government,  an  economist. 


DANIEL  DEFOE 


215 


and  a  spy.  According  to  one  critic,  he  also  became  one  of 
the  greatest  Hars  that  ever  Hved.  In  the  midst  of  his  many 
other  activities  he  showed  an  abiding  interest  in  producing 
literature.  One  of  his  earliest  literary  efforts  was  his  Essay 
upon  Projects  (1698)  which  gives  a  most  remarkable  series  of 
suggestions,  some  very  sensible  and  others  exceedingly 
foolish.  He  discussed  such  diverse  subjects  as  banks,  high- 
ways, casualty  insurance,  pensions,  mihtary  training,  and 
education  for  women.  Many  of  these  topics  were  treated 
in  an  uncanny  way  that  was  a  century  or  more  ahead  of  his 
time.  He  attracted  more  attention,  however,  as  a  political 
pamphleteer.  Among  his 
productions  in  that  field 
was  his  Shortest  Way  with 
Dissenters  (1702),  in  which, 
although  a  Dissenter  him- 
self, he  wrote  in  the  person 
cf  an  Anglican  Tory  that  all 
Dissenters  should  be  ban- 
ished or  hanged.  The 
Tories  were  deceived  at  first 
and  promptly  indorsed  his 
views.  When  they  realized 
that  he  had  been  ridiculing 
them,  they  set  up  a  hue  and 
cry,   offering    £50    for    his 

arrest.  When  they  got  him  they  placed  him  in  the  pillory, 
but  the  populace  gave  DeFoe  a  splendid  ovation,  bringing 
flowers  to  the  pillory  instead  of  the  decayed  fruit  and  vegeta- 
bles with  which  pilloried  wretches  were  usually  pelted. 
Pope  in  The  Dunciad  wrote  the  line: 

Earless  on  high,  stood  unabash'd  De  Foe 

and  thus  perpetuated  the  mistake  that  DeFoe's  ears  had 
been  cut  off  for  his  offense.     His  punishment  included  a 


Daniel  DeFoe 


216 


THE  CLASSICAL  PERIOD 


year's  term  in  Newgate  Prison,  where,  with  characteristic 
enterprise,  he  conducted  a  Revicio  that  appeared  three 
times  a  week  until  1713,  when  it  was  suppressed  by  the 
Government.  At  that  tune  DeFoe  was  condemned  for 
treason,  but  pardoned.  Two  years  later  he  was  again  in 
trouble  —  this  time  for  libel;  again  he  escaped  punishment 
through  influential  friends.    It  seems  incredible  that  DeFoe 


DeFoe  in  the  Pillory 


should  have  written  the  entire  Review  during  the  nine  years 
of  its  existence  —  a  total  of  over  five  thousand  pages  in 
addition  to  the  eighty  books  and  pamphlets  produced  by 
him  during  the  same  period. 

22.  Robinson  Crusoe.  DeFoe  was  sixty  years  old  when 
he  published  his  first  fiction  —  the  greatest  of  all  his  works  — 
his  immortal  Robinson  Crusoe  (1719).  Few  stories  have  ever 
made  such  a  universal  appeal  to  young  and  old,  to  the 


DANIEL  DEFOE 


217 


cultured  and  the  untutored.  There  was  nothing  new  about 
the  idea  of  a  shipwrecked  mariner  stranded  on  a  desert 
island,  and  DeFoe  was  under  considerable  obHgation  to 
Alexander  Selkirk,  who  actually  went  through  such  a  dis- 
tressing experience;  at  the  same  time  the  incidents  in  Robin- 
scm  Crusoe  are  related  in  so  simple  and  vivid  a  manner  that 
they  at  once  impress  the  reader  as  genuine.  A  young  person 
dipping  for  the  first  time  into  the  book  is  carried  away  by 
the  realistic  account  of  Crusoe's  voyages,  his  shipwreck,  the 
discovery  of  the  foot-print,  and  his  experiences  with  the 
cannibals.  The  mature  reader,  however,  is  more  impressed 
by  the  fine  spirit  of  piety  and  benevolence  with  which  the 
hero  faces  his  unusual  plight.  Both  feel  the  horror  of  Crusoe's 
solitude;  for  the  time 
being  they  live  with 
him  through  all  his  difla- 
culties  and  note  with 
absorbed  attention 
every  httle  detail  that 
may  serve  to  ease  his 
burden.  They  search 
their  own  hearts  and 
reahze  that  never  before 
did  they  appreciate  the  blessings  of  social  existence.  Doubt- 
less many  of  them  for  the  first  time  experience  a  deep  feel- 
ing of  gratitude  for  the  presence  in  their  homes  of  those  who 
are  dear  to  them.  Robinson  Crusoe  is  one  of  those  rare 
books  that  combine  instruction  with  pleasure  in  a  way  that 
does  not  detract  in  the  least  from  the  charm  of  the  story. 
The  triumph  of  DeFoe 's  art  Hes  in  the  fact  that  we  quite 
forget  the  writer  in  our  concern  for  Crusoe.  Small  wonder 
that  the  book  attained  such  renown  and  exerted  so  pro- 
found an  influence  on  continental  literature.  From  that  day 
to  this  Robinson  Crusoe  has  maintained  its  position  among 
the  great  classics  of  the  world. 


Map  of  Crusoe's  Island 


218  THE  CLASSICAL  PERIOD 

23.  Other  Works.  With  the  keen  instinct  of  the  journal- 
ist, DeFoe  did  not  fail  to  make  the  most  of  his  popularity. 
In  rapid  succession  he  brought  out  a  series  of  realistic  tales 
on  a  variety  of  subjects.  Captain  Singleton  (1720)  is  an 
account  of  African  exploration,  piracies,  and  adventure; 
Memoirs  of  a  Cavalier  (1720)  is  a  stirring  story  of  the  Civil 
Wars  in  England,  and  reveals  all  the  characteristics  of  a 
genuine  military  history;  Moll  Flanders  (1722)  and  Colonel 
Jack  (1722)  are  realistic  stories  of  criminal  low  life  in  which 
he  probably  incorporated  some  of  the  experiences  that 
came  to  his  attention  during  his  own  imprisonment  in  New- 
gate. Whenever  he  wrote  of  such  persons,  he  was  always 
interested  in  drawing  a  moral  from  the  offender's  career. 
Perhaps  one  of  the  most  remarkable  performances  of  his 
literary  activity  was  his  Journal  of  the  Plague  Year  (1722), 
in  which  he  describes  the  desolation  and  horror  of  London 
during  the  terrible  year  1665  with  all  the  graphic  detail  of 
an  eye-witness,  yet  DeFoe  was  a  very  young  child  when  the 
Plague  occurred.  Here  again  his  unusual  talent  for  journal- 
ism enabled  him  to  build  up  a  picture  that  is  as  convincing 
as  any  historical  document  could  be. 

24.  Later  Years.  Probably  few  men  of  his  period  passed 
through  more  varied  experiences  than  DeFoe,  yet  he  found 
time  to  write  over  250  books  and  pamphlets,  many  of  which 
have  never  been  reprinted.  His  active  brain  kept  him  in- 
cessantly engaged  in  Uterary  or  political  activity.  Thirteen 
times  he  was  rich  and  poor;  he  changed  his  politics  half  a 
dozen  times,  until  neither  party  knew  whether  he  was  really 
with  them  or  playing  spy  for  the  opposition.  In  the  days  of 
hardship  and  affliction  he  probably  undertook  political  com- 
missions that  were  not  altogether  to  his  credit,  but  his 
personal  shortcomings  should  not  obscure  the  fact  that 
DeFoe  was  England's  first  great  journalist  and  one  of  her 
most  versatile  writers.  After  many  variations  of  fortune 
he  died  in  1731  and  was  buried  in  Bunhill  Fields,  London, 


SAMUEL  RICHARDSON  219 

where  John  Bunyan  also  lies.  In  1870  the  boys  and  girls 
of  England  raised  a  fund  to  place  a  suitable  monument  over 
the  grave  of  the  man  whom  they  will  always  remember 
with  affection  as  "Author  of  Robinson  Crusoe.^* 

As  a  writer  DeFoe  early  acquired  the  journalist's  art  of 
telling  his  story  vividly  and  of  emphasizing  those  details 
that  give  a  suggestion  of  reahty  to  the  tale.  He  wrote 
hastily  and  for  the  most  part  carelessly,  yet  his  racy,  idio- 
matic prose  has  the  homely  appeal  that  always  belongs  to 
the  language  of  everyday  life.  He  was  not  only  one  of  the 
first  constructive  writers  in  economics,  but  also  the  first 
author  to  popularize  stories  deahng  with  plain  people  in  the 
lower  walks  of  society.  Few  students  have  read  any  con- 
siderable part  of  the  vast  amount  of  his  miscellaneous 
writing.  Much  of  his  work  seems  doomed  to  oblivion,  but 
DeFoe  will  always  rank  high  not  merely  as  the  forerunner 
of  the  first  great  novelists,  but  as  the  author  of  a  notable 
work  of  fiction  that  has  won  a  more  enduring  popularity 
than  all  their  works  taken  together. 


SAMUEL   RICHARDSON   (1689-1761) 

25.  The  First  English  Novelist.  Samuel  Richardson  was 
a  prosperous  printer  and  bookseller  of  London  who  attained 
the  age  of  fifty  before  he  became  noted  for  his  literary  gifts. 
He  was  born  in  Derbyshire  in  1689  and  apprenticed  to  a 
stationer  at  the  age  of  seventeen.  Even  as  a  mere  youth 
he  was  employed  by  young  women  to  conduct  their  love 
correspondence  when  they  were  unable  to  write  their  own 
letters,  and  thus  he  acquired  much  skill  in  devising  the 
sentimental  sort  of  letter  that  met  with  general  approval  in 
that  age.  When  he  set  up  as  a  printer  on  his  own  account, 
he  was  probably  too  busy  to  pursue  the  art,  but  years  later, 
when  a  firm  of  publishers  asked  him  to  prepare  a  "ready 
letter- writer"  for  the  use  of  untutored  persons  lacking  the 


220. 


THE  CLASSICAL  PERIOD 


ability  of  self-expression,  Richardson  conceived  the  idea  of 
uniting  his  letters  into  a  sort  of  continuous  narrative  to 
make  their  perusal  more  entertaining.  The  result  was  his 
novel  Pamela,  or.  Virtue  Rewarded,  pubHshed  in  four  volumes 
in  1740  and  generally  accepted  as  the  first  novel  in  the 
modern  sense.  Instead  of  taking  his  characters  hastily  from 
one  adventure  to  another,  Richardson  adopted  a  rather 
leisurely  method  of  treatment  and  spent  most  of  his  time  in 

analyzing  their  traits  to  such  an 
extent  that  they  developed  in 
personality  as  the  story  pro- 
gressed. Pamela  was  the  story 
of  an  English  serving-maid  who 
was  strongly  tempted  by  her 
employer,  but  who  revealed 
such  a  virtuous  character  that 
he  finally  concluded  to  marry 
her.  For  the  modern  reader  the 
story  would  be  rather  dull,  with 
too  obvious  an  attempt  to  point 
a  moral  whenever  possible,  but 
his  own  age  showed  genuine 
enthusiasm  over  the  trials  of 
Pamela  and  demanded  more  literary  fare  of  the  same  sort. 
The  result  was  a  still  longer,  though  much  better  book, 
Clarissa  Harlowe  (1747-1748).  The  story  was  somewhat  simi- 
lar to  Pamela,  but  ended  in  the  pathetic  death  of  Clarissa  to  the 
great  regret  of  all  who  had  followed  her  numerous  experiences 
through  the  eight  volumes  that  Richardson  felt  were  neces- 
sary to  tell  the  tale  properly.  In  response  to  a  request  that 
he  write  a  book  depicting  a  hero  with  manly  qualities  quite 
as  admirable  as  the  feminine  traits  of  his  delightful  heroines, 
Richardson  undertook  his  third  and  last  novel,  Sir  Charles 
Grandison  (1753),  which  is  in  seven  good-sized  volumes, 
but,  on  the  whole,  inferior  to  Clarissa  Harlowe,    All  three 


Samuel  Richardson 


HENRY  FIELDING 


221 


novels  were  written  in  the  form  of  letters  from  one  character 
to  another.  In  spite  of  the  manifest  disadvantages  of  this 
method,  it  enabled  Richardson  to  reveal  his  deep  insight 
into  human  nature  and  his  abihty  to  give  his  readers  pre- 
cisely what  they  craved.  There  was  mawkish  sentimentality 
in  most  of  his  work  and  a  tendency  to  dwell  upon  common- 
place detail  to  the  point  of  tediousness,  but  Richardson  still 
has  his  readers  among  those  to  whom  time  is  not  an  important 
consideration. 


HENRY   FIELDING   (1707-1754) 

26.  A  Great  Realist.  Fielding  was  born  at  Sharpham 
Park,  Somersetshire,  in  1707  and  was  educated  at  Eton 
College  and  the  University  of  Ley- 
den.  He  had  a  varied  career  as  a 
writer  of  farces,  a  theater  mana- 
ger, a  lawyer,  and  a  judge  in  a 
London  police  court.  His  first 
novel,  Joseph  Andrews  (1742),  was 
the  direct  result  of  an  attempt  to 
parody  Richardson's  Pamela.  His 
hero  is  represented  as  the  brother 
of  Pamela,  and  at  the  outset  of 
the  book  his  virtue  is  as  sorely 
tried  as  was  his  sister's;  but  Fielding 
soon  dropped  the  idea  of  parody 
and  made  of  Joseph  Andrews  a 
much  better  book  than  Richardson  had  made  of  Pamela. 
Throughout  that  book  Richardson  had  always  referred  to 
his  hero  as  Mr.  B.,  but  Fielding  took  the  liberty  of  naming 
him  Mr.  Booby  and  even  went  so  far  as  to  introduce  Mr. 
Booby  and  the  exceedingly  virtuous  Pamela  (now  Lady 
Booby)  into  his  own  book.  Richardson  was  much  incensed 
at  Fielding's  impertinence  and  lost  no  opportunity  to  de- 
nounce him  as  a  low  fellow. 


Henry  Fielding 


222  THE  CLASSICAL  PERIOD 

In  1743  Fielding  wrote  Jonathan  Wild,  based  on  the  life 
of  a  notorious  criminal  who  ended  his  career  on  the  gallows. 
His  greatest  novel,  however,  was  Tom  Jones  (1749),  which  is 
generaUy  regarded  as  the  best  work  of  fiction  produced 
during  that  century  and  is  ranked  by  some  as  the  best  novel 
ever  written.  It  tells  with  much  vigor  and  reaHsm  the  story 
of  a  foundling  who  grows  up  to  be  a  most  attractive  scamp 
of  a  hero.  There  are  varied  incidents,  in  high  life  and  low, 
related  with  abundant  humor  and  breeziness  of  spirit.  The 
story  was  so  admirably  put  together  that  Coleridge  pro- 
nounced it  one  of  the  finest  plots  in  all  hterature.  Some  of 
Fielding's  contemporaries,  carried  away  by  their  admiration 
for  Richardson's  sentimental  creations,  were  inclined  to 
frown  upon  so  boisterous  and  irrepressible  a  person  as  Tom 
Jones,  but  posterity  has  been  completely  won  over  by  Field- 
ing's hero.  The  book  was  written  in  the  prime  of  the  author's 
career  and  in  the  fulness  of  his  experience,  and  it  depicts 
faithfully  the  life  of  his  age  as  he  knew  it. 

Fielding's  last  novel,  Amelia,  appeared  in  1751.  It  is 
inferior  to  Tom  Jones,  but  only  in  the  sense  that  Shake- 
speare's plays  of  the  final  period  are  inferior  to  his  best 
tragedies.  If  there  is  less  enthusiasm  and  spirit,  there  is 
on  the  other  hand  a  more  mature  and  mellow  attitude  on 
the  part  of  the  author  toward  the  story  as  it  unfolds  itself. 
Amelia  is  far  better  than  Richardson  at  his  best.  It  may  be 
accepted  as  one  of  our  most  faithful  pictures  of  eighteenth 
century  middle  class  society.  Fielding  went  to  Lisbon  in 
1754  to  recuperate  after  a  serious  illness  and  died  there  a 
few  months  later.  His  Journal  of  a  Voyage  to  Lisbon  (1755) 
appeared  after  his  death. 

27.  Tobias  Smollett  (1721-1771)  was  the  third  of  the 
distinguished  novelists  of  the  century.  *  He  was  a  Scotchman 
who  received  his  education  at  the  University  of  Glasgow, 
was  apprenticed  to  a  doctor,  and  became  a  surgeon's  mate 
in  the  Navy  at  the  age  of  nineteen.    After  a  varied  experience 


HENRY  FIELDING  223 

about  the  world  he  settled  in  London  and  devoted  himself 
to  literature.  He  is  best  remembered  for  his  picaresque 
novels  Roderick  Random  (1748),  Peregrine  Pickle  (1751), 
and  The  Expedition  of  Humphrey  Clinker  (1771).  The  last 
is  generally  accepted  as  his  best  work.  These  stories  reveal 
less  skill  in  character  delineation  than  we  find  in  Richardson 
or  Fielding,  but  they  abound  in  stirring  adventure  and  much 
broad  humor.  Among  his  many  other  works  are  a  history 
of  England,  a  universal  history,  and  translations  of  Gil 
Bias  and  Don  Quixote.  He  also  served  as  editor  of  The 
Critical  Review  and  The  British  Magazine.  Few  English 
writers  had  to  do  so  much  hack-work  for  so  little  reward. 
From  first  to  last  he  had  a  hard  struggle  and  is  less  generally 
read  to-day  than  most  of  his  contemporaries.  This  may  be 
partly  due  to  the  fact  that  he  had  a  tendency  to  permit  his 
characters  to  degenerate  into  caricatures  in  order  to  make 
them  more  interesting.  This  quahty  was  afterwards  re- 
flected in  the  work  of  Dickens,  w^ho  was  much  influenced 
by  Smollett.  We  should  always  remember,  even  if  we  do 
pass  over  Smollett's  novels  nowadays,  that  his  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  sea  enabled  him  to  depict  in  his  books  the 
first  real  sailors  in  English  literature. 

28.  Laurence  Sterne  (1713-1768)  was  the  sentimental 
humorist  among  the  early  novel  writers.  He  was  born  in 
Ireland,  educated  in  Jesus  College,  Cambridge,  and  then 
entered  the  Anglican  Church.  His  seven  volumes  of  Sermons 
are  readily  disregarded  in  favor  of  his  whimsical  novel.  The 
Life  and  Opinions  of  Tristram  Shandy,  Gentleman  (1759-1767), 
a  series  of  quaint,  disjointed  sketches  originally  published  in 
nine  volumes  and  together  constituting  one  of  the  strangest 
books  ever  written.  There  are  subtly  humorous  descrip- 
tions of  the  members  of  the  Shandy  family.  Uncle  Toby 
being  one  of  the  outstanding  characters  in  English  fiction. 
At  the  same  time  there  is  much  affectation  and  a  studied 
indelicacy  of  expression  that  many  readers  find  more  of- 


224  THE   CLASSICAL  PERIOD 

fensive  than  frank  coarseness.  Sterne's  humor  was  fantastic, 
presenting  the  most  unexpected  quips  and  jests  at  every 
turn.  Few  writers  have  been  so  eccentric,  so  chaotic,  and 
so  droll  in  assembling  their  ideas.  His  other  novel,  A 
Sentimental  Journey  through  France  and  Italy,  is  of  slighter 
proportions,  but  reveals  the  same  peculiarities  of  style. 

In  spite  of  his  association  with  the  Church,  Sterne's  life 
was  anything  but  clerical,  and  it  ended  badly.  He  died  in 
a  mean  lodging  in  London,  unattended  by  friends,  and  was 
buried  in  a  parish  churchyard.  The  place  of  interment  was 
noted  by  certain  persons  who  were  then  called  "resurrection- 
men"  and  more  recently  "body-snatchers."  These  vile 
creatures  exhumed  the  corpse  and  disposed  of  it  to  a  professor 
of  anatomy  at  Cambridge.  Thus,  as  one  moralist  observed, 
poor  Sterne  came  back  to  his  old  University  in  the  end  — 
but  as  a  subject  for  the  dissecting-table. 


SAMUEL  JOHNSON   (1709-1784) 

29.  Character  of  the  Period.  Although  the  spirit  of 
classicism  was  waning  during  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  neither  Dryden  nor  Pope  dominated  their  respective 
ages  quite  so  effectively  nor  so  majestically  as  Dr.  Samuel 
Johnson,  the  Ursa  Major  of  his  day  and  the  last  of  the  great 
literary  dictators,  presided  over  the  intellectual  destinies  of 
England  during  the  epoch  of  classical  decline.  While  others 
were  beginning  to  question  the  value  of  the  formal  literary 
principles  that  had  prevailed  for  a  century  or  more,  this 
huge  man  upheld  those  traditions  without  compromise, 
and  by  his  very  obstinacy  imposed  them  upon  literature  for 
another  generation.  It  was  an  age  of  rapid  colonial  expan- 
sion and  shifting  social  conditions.  England  secured  control 
of  India  with  its  incredible  wealth  and  resources  through 
the  activities  of  Clive.  At  the  same  time  she  ousted  France 
from  North  America  and  added  Canada  to  the  British  Em- 


SAMUEL  JOHNSON 


225 


pire.  Under  the  leadership  of  William  Pitt  the  Elder  there 
was  great  political  and  material  progress,  but  the  unwise 
policy  of  Lord  North  while  Prime  Minister  (1770-1.782) 
resulted  in  the  Revolutionary  War  and  the  loss  of  the  Ameri- 
can colonies.  There  was  a  most  significant  religious  revival 
during  the  period  under  the  leadership  of  John  Wesley,  the 
founder  of  the  Methodist  Church.  George  Whitefield 
carried  the  new  evan- 
gelism to  Scotland,  Ire- 
land, and  America. 
Both  leaders  made  an 
emotional  and  spiritual 
appeal  that  differed 
radically  from  the  for- 
mal intellectual  atti- 
tude toward  religion 
prevalent  at  that  time. 
30.  Johnson's  Early 
Career.  Samuel  John- 
son was  born  in  Lich- 
field, 1709,  and  was  the 
son  of  Michael  John- 
son, a  poor  bookseller 
of  that  town.  As  a  boy 
he  had  the  run  of  his 
father's  shop  and  brow- 
sed freely  among  the 
books,  reading  all  sorts  of  literature  that  came  into  his  hands. 
At  eighteen  he  entered  Pembroke  College,  Oxford,  but  be- 
cause of  poverty  had  to  leave  before  he  could  take  his  degree. 
His  early  manhood  was  a  period  of  struggle  against  want. 
At  twenty-five  he  married  a  widow  who  was  almost  twice 
his  age,  and  with  her  small  fortune  of  £800  he  established  a 
school,  but  the  venture  failed.  Accompanied  by  one  of  his 
few  pupils,  David  Garrick,  he  went  to  London  in  1737  to 


Dr.  Samuel  Johnson 


226 


THE  CLASSICAL  PERIOD 


seek  his  fortunes.  Garrick  went  on  the  stage  and  speedily 
achieved  wealth  and  recognition  as  the  leading  actor  of  his 
time;  Johnson,  however,  had  hard  years  of  discouraging 
experience  as  a  hack-writer  ahead  of  him.  He  earned  a 
few  shDhngs  occasionally  by  writing  for    The  Gentlemen's 

Magazine  and  later 
for  The  Monthly  Re- 
view, but  very  often  he 
had  not  sufficient 
money  to  pay  for  his 
night's  lodging.  His 
poem  London  (1738), 
a  satire  in  the  classi- 
cal style,  brought  him 
some  praise,  but  little 
pecuniary  reward. 
Recognition  became 
more  general  in  1749, 
when  he  printed  his 
most  important  poem. 
The  Vanity  of  Human  Wishes,  which  contains  many  pas- 
sages of  dignified  moralizing.  The  familiar  couplet  with  its 
synonymous  expressions 

Let  observation,  with  extensive  view 
Survey  mankind  from  China  to  Peru 

is  characteristic  of  Johnson's  fondness  for  mere  words. 
Tennyson  once  remarked  of  this  passage:  "Why  did  he  not 
say,  *Let  observation,  with  extended  observation,  observe 
extensively'.^" 

About  the  same  time  Johnson's  tragedy  of  Irene,  which  he 
had  brought  with  him  to  London,  was  presented  by  Garrick 
and  received  with  much  acclaim  by  the  critics,  though  it  failed 
to  hold  the  boards.  Fortunately  for  Johnson,  his  share  of  the 
profits  arising  from  the  production  was  nearly  £300.    Irene 


i 

1 

m 

J^^^^^^^B^H 

Johnson's  Birthplace 


SAMUEL  JOHNSON  227 

observed  the  rules  demanded  of  classical  drama  in  that  period, 
but  a  modern  reader  would  find  the  play  insufferably  dull. 

31.  The  English  Dictionary.  When  Johnson,  after  a  ten 
years*  residence  in  London,  brought  out  a  plan  for  a  new 
dictionary  of  the  English  language,  a  group  of  prominent 
booksellers  agreed  to  give  him  a  commission  to  carry  out 
that  important  project  for  £1575.  He  worked  for  seven 
years  at  his  task,  assisted  by  several  needy  scholars  who 
clipped  and  arranged  quotations  for  him.  During  the 
monotonous  period  of  compilation  he  found  time  to  conduct 
a  periodical  called  The  Rambler  (1750-1752),  which  was 
modeled  after  The  Taller  and  The  Spectator,  Johnson  lacked 
the  light  and  graceful  style  that  had  contributed  so  largely 
to  the  success  of  the  earher  papers,  but  there  are  among  his 
essays  a  considerable  number  that  do  not  deserve  neglect. 
His  wife  died  in  1752,  and  Johnson  sincerely  mourned 
her  loss.  In  spite  of  the  difference  in  their  ages  and  her 
many  pecufiarities,  she  knew  the  nature  of  the  distinguished 
man  who  appeared  so  churlish  and  overbearing  to  the  world, 
and  she  retained  his  affection  to  the  end. 

The  English  Dictionary  appeared  in  1755  and  established 
Johnson's  position  as  the  leading  literary  man  of  the  day. 
Published  in  two  large  volumes,  it  was  the  most  ambitious 
work  of  the  kind  that  had  been  attempted  in  England  and 
it  at  once  became  the  recognized  authority.  Johnson  was 
not  well  equipped  for  his  important  task,  as  his  training 
had  been  irregular  and  his  knowledge  of  modern  languages 
was  restricted.  Moreover,  he  did  not  at  first  understand 
that  a  dictionary  should  be  an  impersonal  piece  of  work, 
free  from  the  compiler's  individual  opinions  or  prejudices. 
A  search  through  the  stately  pages  of  the  Dictionary  will 
reveal  such  memorable  definitions  as  these; 
lexicographer.  A  writer  of  dictionaries;  a  harmless  drudge. 
net-work.      Anything    reticulated    or   decussated,    at   equal 

distances,  with  interstices  between  the  intersections. ' 


228 


THE  CLASSICAL  PERIOD 


oats.  A  grain  which  in  England  is  generally  given  to  horses, 
but  in  Scotland  supports  the  people. 

patron.  One  who  countenances,  supports  or  protects.  Com- 
monly a  wretch  who  supports  with  insolence,  and  is  repaid 
with  flattery. 

pension.  An  allowance  made  to  any  one  without  an  equiva- 
lent. In  England  it  is  generally  understood  to  mean  pay 
given  to  a  state  hireling  for  treason  to  his  country. 


:4       , 

,^:^'^  ;   ■  ■ 

t  ■    ^  #                    i 

■  '' 

1 

m       * 

^ 

Painting  by  E.  M.  Ward 

Johnson  at  Lord  Chesterfield's 


pensioner.  A  slave  of  state  hired  by  a  stipend  to  obey  his 
master. 

tary.  One  who  adheres  to  the  ancient  constitution  of  the 
state  and  the  apostolical  hierarchy  of  the  church  of  Eng- 
land; opposed  to  a  whig. 

whig.    The  name  of  a  faction. 

Such  peculiarities,  however,  should  not  blind  us  to  the  im- 
mense amount  of  genuine  labor  that  went  into  the  making 


SAMUEL  JOHNSON  229 

of  the  great  Dictionary.  Apart  from  the  assistance  that 
Johnson  had  received  from  the  scholars  who  had  arranged 
the  quotations,  the  Dictionary  represents  his  own  work 
and  remains  to  this  day  a  substantial  monument  to  his 
literary  industry. 

Up  to  that  time  it  had  been  an  almost  general  practice 
for  writers  to  dedicate  their  works  to  some  royal  or  noble 
patron,  who  usually  repaid  the  compliment  with  some 
practical  evidence  of  his  favor.  The  wealthy  Earl  of  Chester- 
field, who  had  refused  to  help  Johnson  at  the  outset  of  this 
undertaking,  dehcately  intimated  eight  years  later,  when 
the  work  was  ready  for  the  press,  that  he  would  be  pleased 
to  have  the  Dictionary  dedicated  to  himself.  Johnson's 
indignation  at  this  impertinent  suggestion  was  voiced  in  a 
vigorous  reply  that  marked  the  deathblow  to  literary  patron- 
age in  England.  His  stinging  Letter  to  Lord  Chesterfield  is  a 
notable  document  in  the  history  of  Uterature.  The  English 
Dictionary  won  for  Johnson  the  degree  of  M.A.  from  Oxford 
University,  but  made  no  immediate  improvement  in  his 
financial  condition,  as  he  had  expended  his  commissions 
long  before  the  book  was  ready  for  the  press.  In  1756  he 
even  suffered  the  humiliation  of  being  arrested  for  debt, 
but  a  loan  from  Richardson  effected  his  release. 

32.  His  Later  Years.  Between  1758  and  1760  Johnson  pub- 
lished The  Idler,  a  series  of  papers  that  showed  some  improve 
ment  over  The  Rambler,  but  failed  to  achieve  the  degree  ;  i 
popularity  that  attended  the  publication  of  The  Spectator 
nearly  half  a  century  earlier.  During  this  period  l  ;  made 
his  only  attempt  at  writing  an  English  novel.  Rasselas, 
the  Prince  of  Abyssinia  (1759)  is  said  to  have  been  written 
in  a  week.  There  was  a  story  to  the  effect  that  Johnson 
had  written  the  novel  to  defray  the  expenses  of  his  mother's 
funeral,  but  that  explanation  is  now  discredited.  Rasselas 
relates  the  adventures  of  an  imaginary  Prince  who  dwelt 
in  an  earthly  Paradise  situated  in  an  ideal  Abyssinia  of 


230  THE  CLASSICAL  PERIOD 

Johnson's  own  creation.  From  this  Happy  Valley  he 
wandered  forth  to  learn  what  rank  of  life  might  be  considered 
most  desirable.  After  much  investigation  and  discussion  he 
returned  to  his  home,  convinced  that  every  human  career 
has  its  drawbacks.  Rasselas  was  widely  admired  and  dis- 
cussed in  its  day  but,  like  almost  all  of  Johnson's  writings, 
is  no  longer  read.  The  style  is  heavy,  and  the  thin  story  is 
padded  out  with  interminable  disquisitions  by  the  learned 
characters. 

Johnson's  position  became  more  tolerable  after  1762, 
when  George  III  granted  him  a  pension  of  £300,  which  he 
accepted  in  spite  of  his  sarcastic  definitions  of  pension  and 
pensioner  in  the  first  edition  of  his  English  Dictionary.  He 
was  thus  relieved  from  the  wretched  drudgery  that  so  many 
unfortunate  Hterary  men  of  that  period  had  to  carry  to  the 
end  of  their  days.  He  had  more  leisure  to  engage  in  critical 
conversations  and  debates  with  his  friends.  About  1764 
there  came  into  existence  The  Club  (sometimes  called  The 
Literary  Club),  a  famous  group  of  men  including  such 
figures  as  Goldsmith,  Burke,  Sheridan,  Gibbon,  Garrick, 
Reynolds,  and  others,  who  for  the  next  twenty  years  con- 
tinued their  informal  organization  with  Dr.  Johnson  as  the 
recognized  head  and  source  of  literary  authority  and  tradi- 
tion. With  his  huge  physical  bulk  and  slovenly  attire,  his 
heavy  face,  scarred  by  the  ravages  of  scrofula,  and  his  large 
unpowdered  wig,  Johnson  must  have  been  a  remarkable 
figure  as  he  passed  along  the  Strand. 

Among  his  later  works  was  an  edition  of  Shakespeare 
(1765)  that  does  not  compare  favorably  with  others  prepared 
by  less  famous  men.  At  the  invitation  of  several  publishers 
he  prepared  his  Lives  of  the  Poets  (1779-1781)  in  which  much 
of  his  best  critical  writing  is  to  be  found.  The  Lives  are  very 
uneven  in  quality  and  reflect  his  strong  prejudices.  He  was 
especially  unsympathetic  toward  Milton,  Gray,  and  other 
leading  poets;    many  of  the  smaller  gentry  were  treated 


SAMUEL  JOHNSON 


231 


with  more  consideration.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  Johnson 
was  too  lazy  to  verify  most  of  the  statements  printed 
about  some  of  the  poets,  his  book  is  altogether  untrustworthy 
and  should  be  read  only  for  its  critical  observations. 

During  his  last  years  Johnson  sheltered  in  his  home  a 
group  of  aged,  destitute  persons  who  lived  on  his  bounty, 
quarreled  among  themselves,  and  grumbled  at  their  host. 


Painting  by  J.  E.  Doyle 


A  Meeting  of  The  Club 

He  not  only  ignored  the  ingratitude  of  this  "  strange  men- 
agerie," but  even  gave  them  allowances  from  his  pension. 
In  1773  Johnson  and  his  friend  Boswell  made  a  tour  of  the 
Hebrides  and  the  Scotch  Highlands;  afterwards  both  men 
published  accounts  of  their  experiences  and  reminiscences 
of  the  trip.  When  Johnson  died  in  1784  he  was  buried  in 
Westminster  Abbey  beside  his  friend  Garrick. 


232 


THE   CLASSICAL  PERIOD 


33.  Boswell's  Life  of  Johnson.  Seven  years  after  the 
death  of  the  *' Leviathan  of  Literature'*  there  appeared  a 
Life  of  Johnson  that  is  accepted  everywhere  as  the  best 
biography  in  the  EngHsh  language.  The  author,  James 
Boswell  (1740-1795),  was  a  garrulous  Scotch  lawyer  who 
made  Johnson's  acquaintance  in  1763  and  wisely  cultivated 
the  friendship  of  the  great  man.     On  his  occasional  visits 


Fainting  by  Crowe 

Johnson,  Goldsmith,  and  Boswell  at  the  Mitre  Tavern 

to  London  he  spent  much  of  his  time  in  the  Johnsonian 
circle  and  recorded  many  of  the  memorable  conversations. 
Although  contemporaries  called  him  a  jackanapes,  a  scrap- 
monger,  and  a  bore,  Boswell  was  admirably  fitted  for  the 
task  he  had  undertaken.  The  biography  is  not  merely  a 
life  of  Johnson  —  it  is  a  literary  panorama  of  the  age.  No 
one  who  is  at  all  interested  in  the  period  can  afford  to  remain 
ignorant  of  that  entertaining  and  most  remarkable  book. 


SAMUEL  JOHNSON  2S3 

In  its  pages  Johnson,  Goldsmith,  Reynolds,  and  a  host  of 
other  personages  appear  very  much  alive  to-day.  Poor 
homely  Goldsmith  is  portrayed  as  an  erratic  creature, 
boasting  of  his  bloom-colored  coat  until  he  is  rebuked  by 
Johnson  and  Garrick  for  his  bad  taste.  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds, 
the  leading  artist  of  his  day  and  honored  as  the  first  to 
propose  the  organization  of  The  Club,  not  only  entertained 
the  great  man  at  his  home,  but  had  many  letters  from  him. 
On  his  deathbed  Johnson  asked  Reynolds  to  forgive  him  the 
loan  of  thirty  pounds,  to  read  his  Bible,  and  never  to  use 
his  pencil  on  a  Sunday.  Sir  Joshua  agreed  to  all  these 
requests.  Garrick  figures  still  more  largely  in  the  book,  and 
is  described  as  convulsing  the  group  by  mimicking  Dr. 
Johnson  and  Mrs.  Johnson  as  well.  Burke,  another  original 
member  of  The  Club,  is  characterized  by  the  Doctor  as  an 
extraordinary  man  whose  familiar  conversation  corresponded 
to  his  general  fame.  Gibbon  was  dishked  by  Boswell  and 
was  rarely  mentioned.  These  are  but  a  few  of  the  notable 
figures  who  are  so  graphically  described  in  the  great  bi- 
ography. Boswell  was  not  a  man  of  unusual  attainments, 
but  he  deserves  the  greatest  credit  for  having  discovered  for 
himself  a  most  effective  way  to  literary  immortality.  He  is 
now  better  known  and  more  gratefully  remembered  than 
most  of  the  witty  men  who  called  him  hard  names  during 
his  lifetime. 

34.  Johnson*s  Style.  In  many  of  his  writings,  as  well 
as  in  his  recorded  speech,  Johnson  adopted  a  somewhat 
stilted  manner  of  expression,  with  abundant  use  of  sonorous 
words  from  classical  sources.  While  his  style  improved  as 
he  grew  older,  he  was  always  fond  of  resounding  phrases 
and  dignified  periods,  or  **  Johnsonese,'*  as  the  manner  came 
to  be  known.  There  were  times,  however,  when  he  shook 
off  this  habit  and  wrote  with  vigor  in  racy,  Anglo-Saxon 
diction.  It  is  the  irony  of  fate  that  none  of  the  great  man's 
works  has  survived  the  test  of  time,  as  far  as  the  general 


234 


THE  CLASSICAL  PERIOD 


reader  is  concerned.     He  is  best  known  to  our  generation 
as  the  one  dominating  figure  in  the  alluring  pages  of  Boswell. 

OLIVER   GOLDSMITH    (1728-1774) 

35.  A  Restless  Youth.  OHver  Goldsmith  was  born  in 
1728  at  Pallas,  a  little  village  in  Ireland.  His  father,  a  poor 
clergyman,  was  unable  to  provide  for  the  proper  education 
of  his  family.  Nevertheless  Oliver  managed  to  get  some 
early  training  and  attended  DubHn  University  as  a  sizar. 
There  he  gave  a  poor  account  of  himself  as  a  student.    On 

one  occasion  he  felt  so  much  dis- 
graced that  he  started  for  Cork 
with  the  intention  of  sailing  for 
America.  Very  early  he  revealed 
a  somewhat  erratic  nature  that 
V^  ^^I^H       ^^^  ^^^  make   him   any   the   less 

j^  ^^^H  interesting.  He  tried  to  become  a 
'-^:i\  .JI^^H  clergyman,  but  failed;  a  well-dis- 
posed uncle  suggested  the  law  and 
provided  funds  to  take  Goldsmith 
to  London.  Unfortunately  the 
money  was  frittered  away  in  gam- 
bling, and  the  prospective  law  stu- 
dent returned  penniless  to  his  home. 
He  then  served  for  a  short  time  as  a  tutor  and  made  another 
vain  attempt  to  embark  for  America.  Next  he  went  to 
Edinburgh  and  Ley  den  to  study  medicine.  After  several 
years  of  fruitless  wandering  about  the  Contment  he  returned 
to  London  with  an  alleged  diploma  and  began  the  practice 
of  medicine.  Within  a  year  he  gave  up  the  struggle  and 
turned  to  teaching.  Afterwards  he  became  an  apothecary's 
assistant  and  even,  in  spite  of  his  homely  features,  undertook 
for  a  time  to  make  a  living  as  an  actor.  Like  many  a  jack- 
of -all-trades,  he  turned  to  literature  as  a  last  resort  and  earned 
a  few  shillings  doing  hack-work  for  the  magazines. 


Oliver  Goldsmith 


OLIVER  GOLDSMITH  235 

36.  Literary  Works.  Amid  the  great  mass  of  miscel- 
laneous work  which  his  poverty  impelled  him  to  produce, 
only  a  few  titles  stand  out  conspicuously.  His  Enquiry  into 
the  Present  State  of  Polite  Learning  appeared  in  1759  and 
attracted  some  attention.  A  Citizen  of  the  World  (1762), 
which  had  first  appeared  in  periodical  form  as  The  Chinese 
Letters,  was  a  gentle  satire  on  English  society,  purporting 
to  be  the  letters  written  by  a  Chinese  visitor  to  England. 
The  device  was  not  original  with  Goldsmith,  but  it  enabled 
him  to  develop  some  interesting  and  humorous  commentary 
on  English  life  as  it  might  appeal  to  an  Oriental  mind.  In 
this  work  Goldsmith  created  the  memorable  character  of 
Beau  Tibbs,  a  poor  wretch  who  aped  the  speech  and  manner 
of  the  fashionable  world,  and  boasted  of  his  intimacy  with 
the  nobility. 

Goldsmith's  best  poems  are  The  Traveler  (1765)  and  The 
Deserted  Village  (1770),  both  of  which  are  written  in  the 
prevailing  style  of  rhymed  couplets.  There  are  fine  passages 
in  the  former,  but  The  Deserted  Village  in  its  entirety  has 
passed  into  our  classic  literature.  The  vivacious  picture  of 
the  village  life  in  its  prime,  the  admirable  descriptions  of 
the  country-inn,  the  schoolmaster,  and  the  parson  reflect  the 
tenderest  recollections  of  the  poet's  early  years.  Critical 
spirits  have  taken  exception  to  the  economic  doctrine  taught 
in  the  poem  and  have  called  attention  to  the  crouching  tigers 
that  are  permitted  to  wait  for  their  prey  in  the  forests  of 
our  own  state  of  Georgia,  but  we  can  forgive  a  few  such 
shght  blemishes  in  a  poem  of  such  tender  beauty. 

In  The  Vicar  of  Wakefield  (1766)  Goldsmith  made  a  very 
important  contribution  to  English  fiction.  To  many  it  may 
seem  strange  that  this  charming  story  of  idyllic  life  — 
indeed,  the  most  lovable  novel  of  that  century  —  should 
have  been  written  by  an  eccentric  bachelor  who  moved 
mainly  between  his  lodgings  and  his  favorite  taverns.  Yet 
there  are  many  revelations  of  Goldsmith's  own  friendly 


236 


THE  CLASSICAL  PERIOD 


nature  in  its  pages.  We  readily  overlook  the  manifest  faults 
of  plot  and  construction  in  recalling  the  mingled  humor 
and  pathos  of  the  tale.  We  do  not  soon  forget  the  goodly 
vicar,  Dr.  Primrose,  nor  his  daughters,  Olivia  and  Sophia; 
least  of  all,  perhaps,  his  blundering  son  Moses.  Among  the 
immortals  of  fiction  an  assured  place  has  been  found  for 
Miss  Carolina  Wilhelmina  Amelia  Skeggs.      The    Vicar  of 


Painting  by  E.  M.   Ward 

Johnson  Reads  the  MS.  of  The  Vicar  of  Wakefield 

Wakefield  emphasizes  the  homely  doctrine  that  kindness 
and  gentleness  are  never  out  of  fashion;  it  teaches  the  old, 
old  lesson  that  good  shall  prevail  over  evil.  The  proceeds 
from  the  sale  of  the  book  to  the  publisher  saved  Goldsmith 
from  being  arrested  for  debt.  His  landlady  had  already 
apprehended  him  when  the  unfortunate  author  sent  for  his 
friend  Dr.  Johnson,  who  promptly  came,  looked  over  the 
manuscript,  recognized  its  merit,  and  took  it  to  the  book- 


OLIVER   GOLDSMITH  237 

seller's,  where  he  sold  it  for  £60.  When  Goldsmith  received 
the  money  he  not  only  paid  the  insistent  landlady,  but 
berated  her  for  having  treated  him  so  badly.  The  Vicar  of 
Wakefield  became  immediately  popular  and  was  translated 
into  most  of  the  languages  of  Europe.  More  than  a  hundred 
editions  have  been  published  since  Goldsmith's  time,  and 
there  is  no  indication  that  the  world  will  ever  tire  of  this 
delightful  tale  of  English  country  life. 

37.  Later  Writings.  Two  important  comedies,  The  Good 
Natured  Man  (1768)  and  She  Stoops  to  Conquer  (1773),  are 
among  the  very  few  plays  of  the  eighteenth  century  that 
have  not  been  swept  into  oblivion.  They  afford  the  best 
evidence  that  it  is  possible  to  be  witty  in  dramatic  writing 
without  being  licentious.  The  Good  Natured  Man  no  longer 
holds  the  stage,  but  She  Stoops  to  Conquer  is  still  found  in 
professional  repertoires.  There  are  admirable  situations  in 
the  play,  which  had  its  origin  in  one  of  Goldsmith's  own 
absurd  blunders  of  mistaking  a  private  house  for  an  inn  and 
ordering  the  servants  about.  While  the  story  is  essentially 
farcical,  the  spirited  dialogue  is  written  in  a  comedy  vein. 
The  character  of  Tony  Lumpkin  was  for  many  years  a 
favorite  role  among  comedians. 

The  lash  of  poverty  impelled  the  composition  of  more 
hack-work,  but  poor  Goldsmith  was  willing  to  furnish  any 
book  the  publishers  ordered.  In  the  field  of  history  alone 
he  wrote  popular  outlines  of  Rome,  England,  and  Greece; 
then  he  capped  the  climax  by  writing  a  History  of  the  Earth 
and  Animated  Nature  (1774)  in  eight  volumes.  This  work 
was,  as  usual,  merely  a  compilation  from  the  books  of  other 
writers,  and  because  of  his  ignorance  of  natural  history 
Goldsmith  fell  into  many  ridiculous  mistakes.  The  dodo, 
which  had  been  extinct  for  nearly  a  hundred  years,  was 
described  with  the  same  wealth  of  detail  as  the  canary-bird, 
although,  as  one  critic  said,  Goldsmith  hardly  knew  a  turkey 
from  a  goose  except  when  he  saw  it  served  on  the  table. 


THE  CLASSICAL  PERIOD 


Goldsmith's  Grave,  Temple  Gardens 


Numerous  minor  books  and  pamphlets  of  every  descrip- 
tion flowed  from  Goldsmith's  busy  pen  during  the  last  seven 
years  of  his  literary  drudgery.  Few  English  writers  were 
more  completely  the  slaves  of  their  calling.  He  continued 
to  write  in  his  dingy  quarters  in  the  Middle  Temple,  London, 

until  his  death  in  1774, 
when  he  was  buried  in 
the  Temple  Gardens. 
His  fellow-members  in 
The  Club  erected  a 
monument  to  his 
memory  in  West- 
minster Abbey  with  a 
grandiloquent  Latin 
epitaph  by  Dr.  John- 
son, who,  confirmed 
classicist  that  he  was,  refused  to  desecrate  the  Abbey  with 
an  inscription  in  English. 

38.  Goldsmith's  Character.  Goldsmith  was  an  erratic 
creature;  lovable  and  generous,  yet  capable  of  the  most 
absurd  actions.  Johnson  said  of  him,  "  No  man  was  more 
foohsh  when  he  had  not  a  pen  in  his  hand,  or  more  wise 
when  he  had."  He  would  struggle  for  weeks  or  even  months 
to  gain  a  few  pounds  from  the  booksellers;  when  the  money 
was  in  his  hands  he  would  squander  it  for  gay  attire  or  in 
riotous  dinners  for  his  associates.  At  the  time  of  his  death 
he  was  in  debt  to  the  extent  of  £2000.  "  Was  ever  poet  so 
trusted  before.^"  wrote  Johnson  to  Boswell  in  giving  a  brief 
account  of  Goldsmith's  end.  Those  who  knew  him  best 
admitted  his  frivolity,  his  vanity,  and  his  improvidence. 
Their  regard  for  his  admirable  qualities  was  mixed  with 
contempt  for  his  many  faults.  Horace  Walpole  called  him 
an  inspired  idiot;  Garrick  said  Goldsmith  *'  wrote  like  an 
angel,  and  talked  like  poor  Poll."  Yet  throughout  his  work 
there  breathes  a  fine  spirit  of  esteem  for  the  better  things 


EDMUND  BURKE 


239 


of  life.  His  compassion  for  those  in  affliction  and  his  interest 
in  those  who  had  to  traverse  lowly  walks  in  life  reveal  him 
as  a  prophet,  thinking  in  terms  of  a  later  age,  of  a  coming 
brotherhood  of  man.  Like  Steele  before  him  and  Lamb  after 
him.  Goldsmith  had  too  many  really  commendable  quali- 
ties to  permit  us  to  dwell  long  on  his  failings.  There  is  a 
natural  simplicity  and  a  sincerity  about  his  work  at  its 
best  that  lift  it  far  beyond  the  standards  of  the  artificial, 
cynical  age  in  which  he  lived  and  wrote. 


EDMUND  BURKE    (1729-1797) 

39.  An  Independent  Nature.  Edmund  Burke  was  bom 
in  Dubhn,  1729,  and  was  the  son  of  Richard  Burke,  an 
attorney.  He  was  educated  at  Ballitore  and  at  fourteen 
went  to  Trinity  College,  Dublin. 
Upon  completing  his  training 
there  he  was  sent  to  London  to 
study  law  at  the  Middle  Temple. 
He  soon  developed  more  incli- 
nation for  literature  than  for 
his  law-books.  When  his  father 
heard  of  this,  he  cut  off 
Edmund's  allowance,  expecting 
thereby  to  bring  the  young  man 
to  terms.  Edmund,  however, 
promptly  took  up  literature  as 
a  means  of  livelihood  and 
brought  out  two  important 
essays,  A  Vindication  of  Natural 
Society  (1755),  a  reply  to  Lord 

Bolingbroke's  attack  on  natural  religion,  and  A  Philosophical 
Inquiry  into  the  Origin  of  Our  Ideas  of  the  Sublime  and 
Beautiful  (1756).  In  the  same  year  Burke  went  to  Bath  to 
recuperate    from    illness   brought   on   by   excessive    study. 


Edmund  Burke 


240  THE  CLASSICAL  PERIOD 

There  he  married  Jane  Nugent,  the  daughter  of  his  physician. 
In  1759  he  became  the  editor  of  the  newly  estabHshed 
Annual  Register  and  continued  to  edit  that  pubHcation  for 
thirty  years.  From  1759  to  1764  he  acted  as  secretary  for 
Wilham  Gerard  Hamilton,  a  politician  better  known  as 
*'Single-Speech  Hamilton,"  who  secured  for  Burke  a  pension  of 
£300,  but  within  a  year  Burke  recognized  the  false  position  in 
which  such  a  favor  would  place  him  and  gave  up  the  pension. 
40.  A  Member  of  Parliament.  Burke  was  elected  to 
Parhament  in  1765  and  during  the  following  nine  momentous 
years  represented  Wendover.  He  soon  won  a  reputation 
for  eloquence  and  for  his  comprehensive  knowledge  of  every 
subject  on  which  he  undertook  to  speak.  Early  in  his 
parliamentary  career  Burke  interested  himself  in  American 
affairs  and  advocated  fair  treatment  of  the  Colonies.  He 
visited  Ireland  in  1766  and  afterwards  vigorously  assailed 
the  policy  of  the  British  government  in  that  country.  With 
his  purchase  of  the  fine  estate  of  Beaconsfield  in  1768  he 
assumed  financial  obligations  that  kept  him  in  difficulties 
for  the  rest  of  his  life.  His  Thoughts  on  the  Present  Dis- 
contents (1770)  traced  the  growing  dissatisfaction  in  England 
and  in  her  Colonies  to  secret  government  by  a  few  of  the 
King's  friends  and  he  advocated  open  party  control.  It  was 
Burke's  first  significant  warning  against  dangers  that  were 
soon  to  cause  England  great  humiliation.  His  fine  speech 
on  American  Taxation  (1774)  was  an  unsuccessful  attempt 
to  impress  upon  the  Government  the  folly  of  its  policy  toward 
the  American  Colonies.  Lord  North  persisted  in  carrying 
out  his  plans  in  his  own  way.  As  America  showed  no  signs 
of  yielding,  various  plans  of  compromise  were  suggested. 
Burke  made  his  Speech  on  Conciliation  with  America  (1775), 
which  reveals  his  oratorical  style  at  its  best.  In  this  master- 
piece of  eloquence  Burke  strongly  urged  the  need  for  a  more 
considerate  attitude  toward  America.  He  stressed  with 
prophetic   vision   the  growing  importance  of  the  Colonies 


EDMUND  BURKE 


241 


and  analyzed  in  sympathetic  spirit  the  temperament  of  the 
people.  Skillfully  he  adduced  one  argument  after  another 
to  convince  his  fellow-countrymen  that  instead  of  irritating 
the  Americans  they  should  make  such  reasonable  concessions 
as  would  strengthen  the  bonds  of  affection  between  the 
Colonies  and  the  mother-country.  The  speech  abounds  in 
finely  sustained  passages  of  declamation  and  in  figurative 
illustration.  During  the  greater  part  of  the  Revolutionary 
War,  Burke  represented  Bristol  in  Parliament  and  continued 
his  protest  against  the  Government's  American  policy.  His 
Letter  to  the  Sheriffs  of 
Bristol  (1777)  presents 
most  adequately  his 
views  in  the  matter. 
During  his  later  parlia- 
mentary career  (1781- 
1794),  as  member  for 
Malton,  he  had  the 
pleasure  of  forcing  the 
resignation  of  Lord 
North  and  of  reversing 
King  George  Ill's 
costly  experiment  of  running  the  Government  according  to 
his  own  ideas  —  or  lack  of  them.  Goldsmith  in  his  witty 
poem.  Retaliation^  wrote  rather  irreverently  in  his  mock 
obituary  of  Burke: 

Here  lies  our  good  Edmund,  whose  genius  was  such, 
We  scarcely  can  praise  it,  or  blame  it  too  much; 
Who,  born  for  the  universe,  narrowed  his  mind, 
And  to  party  gave  up  what  was  meant  for  mankind. 


Middle  Temple  Hall 


Who,  too  deep  for  his  hearers,  still  went  on  refining, 
And  thought  of  convincing,  while  they  thought  of  dining; 
Though  equal  to  all  things,  for  all  things  unfit. 
Too  nice  for  a  statesman,  too  proud  for  a  wit; 
For  a  patriot  too  cool;  for  a  drudge  disobedient; 
And  too  fond  of  the  right  to  pursue  the  expedient. 


242  THE   CLASSICAL  PERIOD 

41.  Affairs  in  India.  Another  field  in  which  Burke  was 
most  active  was  in  connection  with  EngHsh  interests  in 
India.  He  began  his  investigation  of  the  East  India  Com- 
pany in  1783  and  two  years  later  denounced  Warren  Hastings, 
who  was  then  Governor-General  of  India.  The  impeach- 
ment of  Hastings  in  1787  resulted  in  a  trial  that  dragged  on 
for  over  six  years.  Burke's  opening  speech  for  the  prosecu- 
tion lasted  four  days,  and  in  1794  he  made  a  nine  days' 
speech  reviewing  all  the  details  of  the  evidence.  Although 
Hastings  was  eventually  acquitted,  all  England  recognized 
that  Burke  had  really  won  his  case.  An  important  principle 
was  established  for  the  future  regulation  of  Indian  afi'airs; 
the  exploitation  of  that  country  by  men  of  the  Hastings 
stamp  came  to  an  end. 

42.  Closing  Years.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  French 
Revolution,  Burke  boldly  took  the  unpopular  side  and  de- 
nounced the  revolutionists.  English  opinion  was  gradually 
molded  by  Burke's  attitude.  His  Reflections  on  the  French 
Revoluticm  (1790)  was  a  sweeping  condemnation  of  the  state 
of  affairs  in  France.  His  anticipation  of  the  evils  to  come 
seemed  almost  prophetic.  Bitter  days  were  in  store  for  him 
as  well.  His  only  son  died  in  1794,  leaving  Burke  a  heart- 
broken man.  He  retired  from  Parliament  that  year,  with 
two  pensions  amounting  to  £3700.  When  two  wealthy 
young  noblemen  sneered  at  him  for  accepting  this  bounty, 
Burke  published  his  Letter  to  a  Noble  Lord  (1795),  which 
was  not  only  a  vigorous  reply  to  his  traducers,  but  a  notable 
review  of  his  long  years  of  service  to  England.  His  last 
important  work  was  his  Letters  on  a  Regicide  Peace  (1796), 
which  is  less  significant  for  its  political  than  for  its  literary 
quahty.  He  died  in  1797  at  Beaconsfield  and  was  buried 
in  the  local  parish  church. 

Burke  is  remembered  not  merely  as  a  well-informed  and 
gifted  statesman,  but  as  an  unselfish,  high-minded  patriot, 
zealous  for  the  good  name  and  the  welfare  of  his  country. 


EDWARD  GIBBON 


243 


England  may  have  had  more  eloquent  orators  and  more 
sagacious  men  in  public  life,  but  not  often  did  she  command 
the  services  of  one  who  united  those  qualities  as  admirably 
as  Burke.  He  was  willing  to  accept  unpopularity  and  a 
reversal  of  political  fortune  in  his  unequivocal  stand  for 
what  he  regarded  as  fundamental  principles  of  sound  govern- 
ment. Only  a  man  whose  record  is  clean  could  have  pursued 
the  course  that  Burke  followed  to  the  end.  No  man  of  his 
time  better  deserved  the  fine  title  that  was  applied  to  him  — 
the  friend  of  human  liberty. 

43.  Edward  Gibbon  (1737-1794),  another  member  of 
Dr.  Johnson's  literary  circle,  was  born  at  Putney,  a  suburb 
of  London,  attended  Westminster 
School,  and  then  proceeded  to 
Magdalen  College,  Oxford.  He 
learned  so  little  from  his  teachers 
there  that  he  later  denounced  the 
University  in  scathing  terms.  As  a 
youth  he  seemed  inclined  to  become 
a  convert  to  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  His  father  thereupon  sent 
him  to  Lausanne,  in  Switzerland, 
to  draw  him  back  to  his  Protectant 
faith.  The  result  was  that  Gibbon 
for  a  time  gave  up  all  belief  in  reli- 
gion.    A  love-affair  with  a  Mile. 

Susanne  Curchod  developed,  but  when  threatened  with  disin- 
heritance, Gibbon  dutifully  returned  to  his  father  in  London. 
"  I  sighed  as  a  lover,  I  obeyed  as  a  son, "  wrote  Gibbon 
afterwards.  "My  wound  was  insensibly  healed  by  time,  and 
the  habits  of  a  new  life;  and  my  cure  was  accelerated  by  a 
faithful  report  of  the  tranquillity  and  cheerfulness  of  the 
Lady  herself."  The  tranquil  Lady  who  so  fortunately 
escaped  this  impossible  lover  eventually  married  the  dis- 
tinguished banker,  Joseph  Necker,  one  of  the  leading  states- 


Edward  Gibbon 


244  THE   CLASSICAL  PERIOD 

men  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XVI;  Gibbon  discreetly  re- 
mained a  bachelor.  Several  contemporaries  have  given  us 
pen-portraits  of  this  curious  little  man,  scarcely  four  feet, 
eight  inches  high,  with  a  fat  body  resting  heavily  on 
slender  legs,  and  a  face  in  which  a  small  nose  was  almost 
lost  between  his  chubby  cheeks.  Boswell  expressed  his 
dislike  frankly  when  he  wrote:  "  Gibbon  is  an  ugly,  affected, 
disgusting  fellow  and  poisons  our  Hterary  club  to  me." 

It  was  during  a  visit  to  Rome  in  1764  as  he  sat  "  musing 
amid  the  ruins  of  the  Capitol,  while  the  barefooted  friars 
were  singing  vespers  in  the  Temple  of  Jupiter"  that  the  idea 
of  writing  the  story  of  the  decline  and  fall  of  the  great  city 
first  occurred  to  Gibbon.  He  labored  zealously  for  twelve 
years  before  the  first  volume  of  The  Decline  and  Fall  of  the 
Roman  Empire  was  ready  for  publication  (1776).  Another 
twelve  years  elapsed  before  the  sixth  and  final  volume  ap- 
peared. This  monumental  work,  covering  the  entire  range 
of  Roman  history  from  the  time  of  Trajan  (98  a.d.)  to  the 
Fall  of  Constantinople  (1453),  is  hke  a  gorgeous  panorama 
of  stirring  incidents.  The  gradual  crumbling  of  the  mighty 
empire  under  the  later  Caesars,  the  overwhelming  invasions 
by  the  Goths  and  the  Vandals,  the  gradual  spread  of  Chris- 
tianity over  western  Europp,  the  rise  of  the  Byzantine 
Empire,  the  westward  surge  of  Mohammedanism,  the  pomp 
and  circumstance  of  the  Crusades  —  all  these  and  more  are 
presented  in  language  that  is  at  once  animated,  sonorous, 
and  majestic.  Gibbon's  fondness  for  painting  word-pictures 
of  impressive  historical  events  should  be  noted.  If  in  the 
stately  glitter  of  his  carefully  studied  style  we  miss  the 
natural  simplicity  that  marks  the  manner  of  Goldsmith  in 
The  Vicar  of  Wakefield^  we  must  not  forget  that  Gibbon 
deliberately  adopted  the  more  ornate  diction  as  better  fitted 
for  the  colorful  historical  events  of  which  he  was  writing. 
Apart  from  its  literary  quality  Gibbon's  work  represents 
the  most  careful  scholarship  and  painstaking  research.     It 


RICHARD    BRINSLEY  SHERIDAN 


245 


is  so  complete  and  so  trustworthy  in  detail  that  it  has  the 
unusual  distinction  of  being  considered  as  the  only  historical 
work  produced  in  the  eighteenth  century  that  has  not  been 
superseded  by  the  investigations  of  later  writers. 

44.  Richard  Brmsley  Sheridan  (1751-1816),  a  witty  Irish- 
man and  one  of  the  younger  men  in  The  Club,  was  born  in 
DubHn,  educated  at  Harrow,  and  became  active  as  a  theater- 
manager  and  a  member  of  ParHament,  but  he  is  best  re- 
membered as  the  author  of  two  admirable  social  comedies. 
The  Rivals  (1775)  and  The  School  for  Scandal  (1777).  Both 
of  these  clever  plays  abound  in 
satiric  character  drawing  and  in 
amusing  scenes.  Such  personages 
as  Sir  Anthony  Absolute,  Bob  Acres, 
and,  above  all,  Mrs.  Malaprop,  are 
classic  figures  in  English  comedy, 
yet  the  first  performance  of  The 
Rivals  was  accounted  a  failure. 
The  School  for  Scandal  is  a  superior 
play  and  has  been  more  popular  on 
the  stage.  Few  comedies  of  any 
period  reveal  such  consistently 
brilliant  dialogue  —  or  such 
characters  as  Joseph  Surface,  Sir 
Pet^r,  and  Lady  Teazle.  For  the  exaggerated,  boisterous 
fun  of  The  Rivals  Sheridan  substituted  in  his  later  play 
a  cleverly  planned  situation  to  expose  with  biting  wit 
the  cant  and  the  hypocrisy  of  certain  elements  in  society. 
These  two  comedies,  with  Goldsmith's  She  Stoops  to  Conquer, 
are  the  only  plays  of  the  century  that  survive  on  the  modern 
stage.  His  once  famous  farce.  The  Critic  (1779),  is  now  neg- 
lected. In  Parliament  he  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  great 
orators  of  the  day.  He  made  an  impressive  six  hours' 
speech  against  Warren  Hastings  at  the  beginning  of  the 
impeachment  and  several  other  important  speeches  during 


Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan 


246  THE   CLASSICAL  PERIOD 

the  long  trial.  The  comedies  that  achieved  his  fame  all 
belong  to  his  earlier  life.  During  his  later  career  he  suffered 
many  reverses;  twice  the  Drury  Lane  Theater,  of  which 
he  was  manager,  was  burnt  down.  He  died  in  1816  in 
wretched  circumstances  and  was  buried  in  Westminster 
Abbey.  He  was  virtually  the  last  of  the  brilliant  coterie 
of  men  who  had  enjoyed  a  conspicuous  place  in  the  circle 
of  Dr.  Johnson  during  the  waning  days  of  classical  influence 
in  England. 


CHAPTER  IX 
EARLY  ROMANTICISM 

1.  The  Reaction.  It  was  impossible  that  the  cold  formal- 
ism of  the  eighteenth  century  should  impose  itself  indefinitely 
upon  English  Uterature.  The  classical  spirit  of  restraint  had 
suppressed  enthusiasm  and  joyous  exultation  over  the  t^eauty 
of  life,  but  there  were  those  to  whom  such  suppression  was 
intolerable.  They  felt  that  much  in  their  experience  called 
for  a  free,  emotional  utterance;  they  were  tired  of  standards 
derived  from  the  ancients  and  of  precepts  laid  down  by 
Boileau.  Although  the  leading  authors  who  wrote  under 
the  leadership  of  Pope  and  accepted  him  as  a  model  of 
correctness  did  not  share  that  feeling,  there  were  even  in  the 
heyday  of  Pope's  fame  less  important  writers  who  were 
eager  to  express  their  feelings  naturally  in  literary  form.  In 
these  evidences  of  rebellion  from  Classicism  we  find  the  first 
traces  of  the  great  Romantic  Movement  that  culminated  in 
the  work  of  Scott,  Wordsworth,  and  Coleridge;  beyond 
those  great  writers  the  same  romantic  traditions  have 
continued  to  dominate  literature  to  the  present  day. 

2.  Religious  Influences.  One  of  the  signs  of  the  new 
epoch  was  a  marked  change  in  man's  attitude  toward  religion. 
Worship  of  God  was  no  longer  regarded  as  a  mere  matter 
of  form.  Fervent  earnestness  characterized  the  reformers 
who  preached  zealously  against  spiritual  indifference.  The 
great  mass  of  the  people  were  especially  moved  by  the 
writings  and  the  preaching  of  John  and  Charles  Wesley, 
the  founders  of  Methodism.  Other  denominations  sprang 
up,  and  the  Church  of  England  found  itself  on  the  defensive, 
stimulated  to  the  point  of  proving  its  right  to  leadership  and 

247 


248  EARLY  ROMANTICISM 

spiritual  authority.  The  rapid  growth  of  the  various  dis- 
senting bodies  ]yas  beneficial,  because  it  aroused  England 
from  a  state  of  spiritual  lethargy  to  a  sincere  interest  in 
religion  as  a  vital  issue  in  man's  existence. 

3.  Individualism.  Classicism,  with  its  inherent  respect 
for  authority  and  tradition,  did  much  to  uphold  distinc- 
tions of  social  rank.  Its  literary  expression  directed  atten- 
tion mainly  to  those  persons  who  constituted  the  upper 
classes.  Poetical  epistles  were  addressed  to  influential 
noblemen  who  would  be  completely  forgotten  to-day,  were 
it  not  for  the  literary  merit  of  the  flattering  tributes  from 
poets  who  sought  the  patronage  of  the  great.  The  common 
people  were  generally  considered  unworthy  of  literary 
notice.  Their  feelings  mattered  little;  they  were  not  sup- 
posed to  have  laudable  ambitions  or  dreams  of  better  condi- 
tions. In  fact,  a  belief  prevailed  that  sympathy  for  the 
oppressed  classes  was  disrespectful  to  the  Creator.  Pope's 
dictum,  "Whatever  is,  is  right,"  proved  to  the  satisfaction 
of  many  that  God  would  not  permit  the  poor  to  remain  in 
their  misery  and  degradation  if  it  were  not  His  will. 

With  the  beginning  of  the  romantic  revival  a  new  note 
was  struck.  Literature  turned  to  lowly  life  and  examined 
it  critically  and  sympathetically.  Men  were  no  longer 
conveniently  labeled  as  aristocrats,  shopkeepers,  artisans, 
and  what  not.  They  became  individual  human  beings,  each 
with  his  own  life  to  live  and  his  own  problems  to  solve. 
As  soon  as  thinking  men  realized  that  the  experiences  of  a 
poor  servant  girl  or  of  a  humble  parson  could  serve  as  material 
for  significant  Uterature,  the  dawn  of  individuahsm  was  under 
way.  It  was  but  a  few  short  years  from  Pamela  and  The 
Vicar  of  Wakefield  to  the  time  w^hen  the  democratic  spirit  of 
the  French  Revolution  proclaimed  the  new  principles  of 
the  equality  and  essential  brotherhood  of  men. 

4.  The  Influence  of  Nature.  The  classical  age  of  litera- 
ture in  England  stressed  mainly  the  fife  of  the  city  in  general 


A   BROADER  HORIZON  249 

and  of  London  in  particular.  Its  interest  in  nature  was 
largely  secondary  to  its  celebration  of  man's  efforts  to 
improve  on  nature.  If  it  accorded  praise  to  well-ordered 
parks  or  sylvan  groves  with  statues  of  ancient  deities,  it 
was  because  man  had  brought  his  intelligence  to  bear  and 
had  made  such  places  more  attractive.  For  the  expansive 
country-side,  the  glorious  forests  of  England,  or  its  rugged 
coast-scenery  there  was  little  enthusiasm.  All  these  were 
crude  and  lacking  in  that  refinement  which  civilization  alone 


View  of  the  Thames 

could  give  to  the  disordered  world  in  a  natural  state.  With 
the  development  of  romantic  feeling,  however,  there  came  a 
genuine  appreciation  not  only  for  the  glory  of  the  sun- 
rise and  the  sunset,  the  beauty  of  field  and  forest,  but  also 
for  the  wilder,  sublimer  aspects  of  nature  —  for  raging 
mountain  cataracts,  for  the  fury  of  the  storm,  for  gloomy, 
inaccessible  mountain  peaks,  for  the  tossing  and  tumultuous 
seas. 

5.  A  Broader  Horizon.     Mankind  also  began  to  chafe  at 
the  narrow  circle  of  subjects  that  engaged  the  attention  of 


250  EARLY  ROMANTICISM 

classical  writers.  There  were  other  questions  of  interest 
that  were  quite  unknown  to  the  authors  of  Greece  and 
Rome.  Scholars  began  to  investigate  the  early  history  and 
folk-lore  of  the  Celtic  and  Teutonic  races.  Evidences  of 
primitive  art,  mythology,  and  literature  were  eagerly  sought 
out  and  studied.  Proverbs,  ballads,  and  other  remains  of 
earlier  culture  among  the  lowly  became  a  matter  of  scholarly 
concern.  Superstitions  and  traditions  of  every  sort  were 
investigated  and  discussed.  Memorials  of  the  past  were 
carefully  preserved  as  treasured  evidences  of  whatever 
civilization  the  race  had  enjoyed.  Recognition  of  the  fact 
that  former  authors,  especially  Chaucer  and  Shakespeare, 
had  been  greater  writers  than  those  ambitious  classicists 
who  had  undertaken  to  "  improve"  or  "adapt"  the  originals, 
helped  to  break  down  the  self-complacency  of  the  passing 
age  of  classicism. 

Such  influences,  exerted  with  ever-increasing  force, 
brought  about  the  eventual  downfall  of  artificial  standards. 
The  heroic  couplet  was  gradually  discarded;  poets  chose 
whatever  meter  best  fitted  their  subject-matter.  Simple 
Saxon  words  supplanted  the  Latinized  diction  of  the  Au- 
gustans.  Straightforward  simplicity  took  the  place  of 
studied  phrase  and  polished  figures  of  speech.  A  highly 
decorative  literature  of  art  gradually  became  a  frank,  direct 
literature  of  nature.  The  men  who  accomplished  this 
significant  change  were  affected  by  the  new  impulses  in 
varying  degrees ;  they  were  distinctively  writers  of  a  transi- 
tion period  and  hence  not  influences  of  the  highest  im- 
portance. Yet  each  in  his  own  way  helped  to  make%possible 
the  great  romantic  triumph  that  was  achieved  within  a 
century  and  that  continues  to  the  present  day  as  the  domi- 
nating force  in  our  literature. 

6.  James  Thomson  (1700-1748),  a  Scotchman  who  spent 
most  of  his  life  in  London,  was  the  first  poet  to  reflect  to 
any   considerable   extent    the   new   spirit   of   romanticism. 


EDWARD  YOUNG  251 

Although  he  wrote  no  poetry  of  the  highest  order,  he  did 
venture,  at  the  very  height  of  Pope's  authority,  to  challenge 
the  classical  traditions  and  to  blaze  new  trails  for  himself. 
Beginning  with  a  poem  on  Winter  in  1726,  he  went  on  to 
Summer,  then  Spring,  and  finally  completed  The  Seasons 
with  Autumn  in  1730.  The  significant  fact  about  Thomson's 
Seasons  is  the  choice  of  blank  verse  at  a  period  when  the 
heroic  couplet  was  supposed  to  be  supreme.  In  spite  of 
occasional  dullness,  the  poem  is  marked  by  passages  revealing 
a  sincere  love  for  nature: 

And  see  where  surly  Winter  passes  off, 

Far  to  the  north,  and  calls  his  ruflfian  blasts: 

His  blasts  obey,  and  quit  the  howling  hill, 

The  shatter'd  forest  and  the  ravag'd  vale; 

While  softer  gales  succeed,  at  whose  kind  touch. 

Dissolving  snows  in  livid  torrents  lost. 

The  mountains  lift  their  green  heads  to  the  sky. 

Thomson  could  not,  however,  break  away  from  the  con- 
ventional epithets  so  typical  of  classical  verse.  He  wrote 
"excited  atmosphere"  for  "storm,". and  called  birds  "plumy 
people."  When  it  rained  Thomson  told  his  readers  that 
"the  clouds  consign  their  treasures  to  the  fields." 

Later  in  life  he  wrote  The  Castle  of  Indolence  (1748), 
in  which  he  not  only  used  the  Spenserian  meter  effectively, 
but  imitated  Spenser's  archaic  language.  In  a  quiet  castle, 
situated  in  the  pleasing  land  of  Drowsy-head,  a  most  en- 
chanting wizard  named  Indolence  makes  his  numerous 
guests  so  tired  that  they  are  even  too  lazy  to  play.  The 
allegory  is  somewhat  labored  and  the  poem  is  notable  mainly 
for  the  choice  of  such  an  unexpected  meter.  Thomson  is 
best  remembered  as  the  author  of  Rule,  Britannia,  which 
first  appeared  (1740)  as  an  incidental  song  in  his  play  The 
Masque  of  Alfred. 

7.  Edward  Young  (1683-1765),  whose  long  life  stretched 
beyond  the  period  of  Pope  and  most  of  his  contemporaries, 


252  EARLY  ROMANTICISM 

was  an  Oxford  man  and  a  member  of  Addison's  circle.  He 
wrote  plays  and  much  verse  of  little  merit,  but  toward  the 
end  of  his  career  he  showed  a  wilHngness  to  abandon  the 
older  tradition  and  cast  his  lot  with  the  romantic  writers. 
Although  his  early  verse  is  generally  in  the  style  of  Pope, 
his  principal  poem,  Night  Thoughts  (1742-1746),  was  written 
in  blank  verse  and  published  in  nine  parts.  The  full  title, 
The  Complaint;  or.  Night  Thoughts  on  Life,  Death,  and 
Immortality,  does  not  offer  a  very  cheerful  prospect  to  the 
reader,  yet  the  poem  became  popular  in  spite  of  long  stretches 
of  unrelieved  gloom.  At  one  time,  now  happily  past,  it 
was  considered  the  proper  thing  to  give  a  morocco-bound 
copy  of  this  versified  grave-yard  sermon  to  any  friend  who 
happened  to  be  ill  or  in  affliction.  Critics  have  suggested 
that  Young  must  have  enjoyed  being  thoroughly  unhappy 
and  regret  that  he  did  not  permit  a  little  star-light  to  filter 
into  his  Night  Thoughts. 

8.  William  Collins  (1721-1759)  was  born  in  Chichester 
and  educated  at  Oxford.  His  meager  poetical  work  includes 
a  volume  of  Odes  (1747)  that  take  high  rank  in  our  literature. 
The  best  of  these  are  the  Ode  to  Liberty,  the  Ode  to  Evening, 
The  Passions,  and  An  Ode  on  the  Popular  Superstitions  of 
the  Highlands  of  Scotland.  In  these  we  find  once  more  the 
genuine  lyric  quality  that  marked  the  poetry  of  an  earlier 
period.  Thus  in  the  beautiful  Ode  to  Evening  a  fine  effect 
is  achieved  in  unrhymed  lyrical  form: 

Now  air  is  hushed,  save  where  the  weak-eyed  bat 
With  short  shrill  shriek,  flits  by  on  leathern  wing; 

Or  where  the  beetle  winds 

His  small  but  sullen  horn. 

Collins 's  fame  as  a  poet  would  have  been  assured  had  he 
written  no  more  than  the  two  impressive  stanzas  that  are 
quite  as  apphcable  to  England's  recent  heroic  dead  as  to 
those  who  died  in  1746: 


OSSIAN  253 

How  sleep  the  l)rave  who  sink  to  rest, 
By  all  their  country's  wishes  blest! 
When  spring,  with  dewy  fingers  cold, 
Returns  to  deck  their  hallowed  mould. 
She  there  shall  dress  a  sweeter  sod 
Than  fancy's  feet  have  ever  trod. 

By  fairy  hands  their  knell  is  rung; 
By  forms  unseen  their  dirge  is  sung; 
There  honour  comes,  a  pilgrim  grey. 
To  bless  the  turf  that  wraps  their  clay; 
And  freedom  shall  awhile  repair, 
To  dwell,  a  weeping  hermit,  there! 

The  poems  of  Collins  at  their  best  suggest  the  Milton  that 
had  been  and  the  Wordsworth  that  was  to  come.  Swinburne 
regarded  him  as  a  "solitary  song-bird  among  many  more  or 
less  excellent  pipers  and  pianists."  In  true  appreciation 
for  the  lyrical  quality  of  poetry  and  for  the  best  traditions 
of  poetic  art,  Collins  was  far  in  advance  of  his  age. 

9.  Ossian.  In  1762  a  certain  James  Macpherson  (1736- 
1796)  published  a  volume  called  Fingal,  which  purported  to 
be  a  translation  of  certain  poems  produced  centuries  before 
by  an  ancient  Gaelic  poet  named  Ossian.  A  year  later 
Macpherson  published  the  "translation"  of  another  Gaelic 
poem  called  Temora.  A  long  and  bitter  controversy  arose 
as  to  whether  these  poems  were  genuine  relics  of  an  earlier 
day  or  Macpherson's  own  compositions.  It  is  now  generally 
believed  that  Macpherson  based  his  "collection"  on  some 
few  real  fragments,  but  relied  on  his  imagination  to  amplify 
what  he  had  discovered.  A  specimen  of  Ossian  will  give 
the  best  idea  of  its  character: 

O  thou  that  roUest  above,  round  as  the  shield  of  my  fathers! 
Whence  are  thy  beams,  O  sun!  thy  everlasting  light?  Thou 
comest  forth  in  thy  awful  beauty;  the  stars  hide  themselves 
in  the  sky;  the  moon,  cold  and  pale,  sinks  in  the  western  wave. 
But  thou  thyself  mo  vest  alone;  who  can  be  a  companion  of 
thy  course?     The  oaks  of  the  mountains  fall:   the  mountains 


254  EARLY  ROMANTICISM 

themselves  decay  with  years:  the  ocean  shrinks  and  grows 
again;  the  moon  herself  is  lost  in  heaven;  but  thou  art  forever 
the  same;  rejoicing  in  the  brightness  of  thy  course.  When 
the  world  is  dark  with  tempests;  when  thunder  rolls,  and 
lightning  flies;  thou  lookest  in  thy  beauty,  from  the  clouds, 
and  laughest  at  the  storm. 

Whether  genuine  Gaelic  poetry  or  not,  Ossian  was  much 
admired  and  widely  imitated  by  writers  who  failed  to  discern 
the  elements  of  rant  and  bombast  that  are  much  in  evidence. 
Foreigners,  especially  Germans,  preferred  Ossian  to  Homer. 
Goethe  and  Napoleon  raved  over  it;  Scott,  Byron,  and 
Cooper  were  much  influenced  by  its  showy  style.  Few 
persons  read  Ossian  to-day  and  none  concern  themselves 
seriously  about  its  authenticity.  Macpherson  lived  over 
thirty  years  after  his  honesty  was  questioned  by  critics  as 
distinguished '  as  Dr.  Johnson,  but  he  did  not  reveal  the 
facts  concerning  the  origin  of  the  Gaelic  poems,  nor  did  he 
respond  to  the  learned  Doctor's  challenge  to  produce  the 
old  manuscripts.  When  he  died,  his  generation  accorded 
him  a  resting-place  in  Westminster  Abbey  not  far  from  the 
grave  of  Johnson. 

10.  Percy's  Ballads.  Three  years  after  the  publication 
of  Ossian  there  appeared  a  far  more  important  book  that 
brought  to  light  many  admirable  specimens  of  genuine  early 
literature.  Thomas  Percy  (1729-1811),  a  graduate  of  Christ 
Church,  Oxford,  and  later  Bishop  of  Dromore,  published  his 
Reliques  of  Ancient  Poetry  (1765)  from  an  old  folio  manu- 
script of  early  songs  and  ballads.  Five  years  later  he  trans- 
lated Mallet's  Northern  Antiquities,  a  scholarly  account  of 
Norse  mythology.  Much  of  the  material  in  Percy's  Ballads, 
as  the  former  work  is  usually  called,  is  of  poor  quality,  and 
at  times  the  editor  showed  the  disposition  of  his  age  to 
"improve"  upon  the  primitive  material  that  he  had  dis- 
covered, but  there  is  so  much  real  literature  in  this  diversified 
collection   of   ancient   balladry   that   it  justifies   the   name 


THE  ROMANTIC  NOVEL  ^55 

"Bible  of  the  Romantic'  Reformation,"  which  has  been 
apphed  to  it.  Percy's  collection  included  not  merely  such 
fine  old  pieces  as  Chevy  Chase,  The  Battle  of  Otterbourne, 
Sir  Patrick  Spens,  and  several  Robin  Hood  ballads,  but  a 
diverse  group  of  lyrical  poems  by  various  Ehzabethan  and 
Scottish  singers.  His  volumes  included  learned  notes  on 
the  ballads,  as  well  as  an  essay  on  The  Ancient  Minstrels  in 
England.  The  reading  public  quickly  recognized  in  the  old 
ballads  a  kind  of  poetry  that  smacked  of  the  earth  —  real 
folk-literature,  as  contrasted  with  the  artificial  rule-bound 
verse  to  which  their  age  had  become  accustomed.  The 
Ballads  did  much  to  stimulate  a  taste  for  early  writers  not 
only  in  England,  but  all  over  western  Europe.  If  any  year 
in  the  eighteenth  century  could  be  definitely  named  as 
marking  the  turning  point  from  the  old  order  to  the  new, 
from  a  classical  tradition  to  a  romantic  freedom  from  tradi- 
tion, that  year  would  be  1765,  when  Percy's  Ballads  first 
appeared  in  print. 

11.  The  Romantic  Novel.  In  the  field  of  English  fiction 
a  new  influence  revealed  itself  in  the  production  of  a  group 
of  stories  that  were  called  "Gothic  romances"  or  "tales  of 
terror."  In  these  stories  the  prime  object  seemed  to  be  the 
stimulation  of  the  reader's  imagination  with  weird  narratives 
of  mysterious  incident  or  hair-raising  adventure.  Horace 
Walpole  (1717-1797),  son  of  the  Prime  Minister,  Sir  Robert 
Walpole,  started  the  fashion  with  The  Castle  of  Otranto: 
a  Gothic  Romance  (1764),  in  which  portraits  walk  out  of 
their  frames,  drops  of  blood  fall  from  the  nose  of  a  marble 
statue,  and  skeletons  are  seen  praying  in  chapel.  The 
characters  spend  most  of  their  time  in  shrieking  and  swoon- 
ing at  these  unusual  sights;  occasionally  their  blood  freezes 
in  their  veins.  Walpole  undoubtedly  did  his  best  to  make 
the  reader's  blood  do  likewise. 

Mrs.  Ann  Radclifife  (1764-1823)  was  the  most  successful 
of  the  followers  of  Walpole.     Her  novels  were  all  modeled 


256  EARLY   ROMANTICISM 

after  the  prevailing  fashion.  Tlie  first  important  story, 
A  Sicilian  Romance  (1790),  was  followed  by  The  Romance 
of  the  Forest  (1791).  Her  most  popular  book  was  The 
Mysteries  of  Udolpho  (1794),  but  The  Italian  (1797),  a 
thrilling  tale  of  the  Inquisition,  is  regarded  as  her  best. 
No  finer  romantic  novel  was  written  by  any  English  author 
before  Scott.  Her  characters  are  less  interesting  than  the 
mysteries  she  invented  to  perplex  them.  Her  blue-eyed, 
auburn-haired  heroines  always  love  to  watch  the  setting 
sun  or  the  rising  sun,  and  then  record  their  impressions  of 
the  spectacle.  As  one  critic  said,  they  never  permit  the  sun 
to  rise  or  set  in  peace.  These  fair  ladies  are  led  through 
a  maze  of  adventures  in  castles  with  haunted  rooms  or  with 
sliding  panels  admitting  to  subterranean  passages  where  all 
sorts  of  ghastly  things  take  place.  It  ssems  strange  that 
this  quiet  little  Mrs.  Radchffe,  who  led  an  uneventful, 
sequestered  life  should  have  been  engaged  in  producing  such 
wild  and  wondrous  fiction,  abounding  in  the  most  fantastic 
happenings  amid  the  strangest  surroundings. 

12.  Other  Early  Novelists.  Not  all  the  novelists  of  this 
period  were  following  the  example  set  by  Walpole  and  Mrs. 
Radchffe.  Frances  (or  Fanny)  Burney  (1752-1840),  the 
friend  of  Garrick  and  of  Johnson,  created  a  sensation  with 
her  story  of  Evelina  (1778),  which  was  followed  by  several 
others  of  less  merit.  One  of  her  contemporaries  referred  to 
Miss  Burney  as  "a  saucy  spirited  little  puss,"  yet  she  had 
the  honor  of  writing  a  novel  that  evoked  high  praise  from 
Dr.  Johnson,  Burke,  and  Gibbon.  Evelina  is  a  vivacious 
story  of  the  fashionable  and  middle-class  life  of  London 
in  her  day  with  an  abundance  of  good  humor,  a  well-con- 
structed plot,  and  admirable  detail  in  description.  It  is  to 
Fanny  Burney's  glory  that  she  blazed  the  way  for  Jane 
Austen.  Maiia  Edgeworth  (1767-1849),  whose  novels  were 
generously  praised  by  Scott,  Macaulay,  and  others,  is  best 
known  to-day  for  her  Castle  Rackrent  (1800)  and  The  Absentee 


THOMAS   CHATTERTON 


257 


(1812),  both  admirable  pictures  of  Irish  life.  Jane  Porter 
(1776-1850)  produced  a  number  of  novels,  of  which  only 
Thaddeus  of  Warsaw  (1803)  and  The  Scottish  Chiefs  (1810) 
have  maintained  their  repu- 
tation. Thaddeus  of  Warsaw 
achieved  a  startling  popularity 
on  the  Continent  and  in 
America,  as  well  as  in  England. 
The  Scottish  Chiefs  is  no 
longer  accepted  as  trustworthy 
history  of  the  exploits  of 
Wallace,  but  it  is  a  book  of 
much  spirit  and  local  color. 
It  is  noteworthy  that  all  three 
of  these  pioneers  among  women- 
novelists  were  born  during  the 
lifetime  of  Dr.  Johnson,  yet 
lived  to  read  the  earlier  novels 
of  Dickens  and  Thackeray. 

13.  Thomas  Chatterton  (1752-1770)  is  one  of  the  pitiful 
figures  of  the  Early  Romantic  period.  Born  in  Bristol'  and 
poorly  educated,  he  revealed  a  dreamy  disposition  and 
spent  most  of  his  time  delving  among  the  dusty  manuscripts 
in  the  quaint  old  church  of  St.  Mary  Redcliffe,  where  his 
ancestors  had  served  as  sextons  for  several  generations. 
Incredible  as  it  may  seem,  this  "marvelous  boy"  who  did 
not  know  his  alphabet  at  six  was  composing  poetry  at 
twelve.  His  first  significant  experiment  in  literary  forgery 
was  the  fabrication  of  a  false  pedigree  for  a  snobbish  pewterer 
of  Bristol.  He  even  went  so  far  as  to  produce  a  poem,  The 
Romaunte  of  the  Cynghte,  alleged  to  have  been  written  by  an 
imaginary  ancestor  of  his  haughty  patron.  When  a  new 
bridge  was  opened  across  the  Severn  in  1768,  Chatterton, 
then  a  youth  of  sixteen,  claimed  that  he  had  discovered  an 
account  of  the  opening  of  an  earlier  bridge  in  1248.    This 


Fanny  Burney 


258  EARLY  ROMANTICISM 

forgery  was  published  in  The  Bristol  Journal,  and  young 
Chatterton  was  complimented  on  his  industry.  Flattered 
by  these  successes,  he  then  proceeded  to  *' discover"  an 
entire  collection  of  epic  fragments  and  dramatic  lyrics  called 
The  Rowley  Poems,  which  he  declared  to  be  the  work  of  an 
ancient  monk  named  Thomas  Rowley;  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
he  wrote  them  himself  in  a  queer,  antiquated  EngHsh  that 
would  not  have  deceived  modern  scholars,  but  was  accepted 
as  genuine  by  his  contemporaries.  He  not  only  revived 
obsolete  forms  of  words,  but  also  coined  many  curious  words 
that  have  the  appearance  of  ancient  origin.  Unable  to  find 
a  publisher  in  Bristol  to  bring  out  his  "find,"  Chatterton 
proceeded  to  London  early  in  1770.  He  met  with  no  en- 
couragement in  his  effort  to  make  a  living  as  a  writer,  and 
after  four  months  of  futile  attempt  to  please  the  publishers, 
he  seemed  doomed  to  perish  of  starvation.  In  despair  he 
took  poison  and  died  at  the  early  age  of  seventeen  years 
and  nine  months. 

Among  the  more  notable  of  the  poems  of  Chatterton  are 
Aella,  The  Bristowe  Tragedy,  and  the  beautiful  Balade  of 
Charitie,  in  which  we  find  echoes  of  Spenser  and  anticipations 
of  Keats.  Chatterton *s  contribution  to  literature  is,  however, 
of  secondary  importance  and  would  receive  less  attention 
were  it  not  for  the  unusual  circumstances  connected  with 
his  pathetic  life  and  the  fact  that  he  exerted  such  far-reaching 
influence  upon  the  greater  poets  of  the  romantic  period. 
Coleridge  wrote  an  impressive  Monody  on  the  Death  of 
Chatterton;  Keats  dedicated  Endymion  to  his  memory;  and 
Shelley  mentioned  him  with  honor  in  Adonais  among  the 
"inheritors  of  unfulfilled  renown.'* 

14.  Thomas  Gray  (1716-1771).  In  striking  contrast  to 
the  amount  of  poetry  produced  by  Chatterton  during  his 
few  sad  years  is  the  surprisingly  small  achievement  of  Thomas 
Gray  during  a  relatively  long  life.  Gray ,  had  the  most 
favorable  opportunities  to  develop  his  literary  talents,  yet 


THOMAS   GRAY 


259 


his  re})utation  rests  on  less  than  a  half-dozen  poems.  He 
was  born  in  London  in  1716,  the  son  of  a  prosperous  money- 
scrivener,  and  secured  his  education  at  Eton  College  and 
at  Peterhouse,  Cambridge.  Although  he  took  no  degree, 
he  read  extensively  and  traveled  with  Horace  Walpole  in 
France  and  Italy.  He  spent  the  last  thirty  years  of  his  life 
at  Cambridge,  where  he  was  for  a  short  time  a  very  inactive 
professor  of  history.  Among  the  few  poems  that  give  this 
indolent  scholar  his  dis- 
proportionate position 
among  poets  is  An  Ode  on 
a  Distant  Prospect  of  Eton 
College,  which  is  a  some- 
what artificial  presenta- 
tion of  the  emotions  of  an 
old  Etonian  who  returns  in 
later  years  and  meditates 
over  the  newer  groups  of 
boys  frolicking  about  in 
their  spirts,  regardless  of 
the  cares  and  sorrows  that 
the  dim  future  holds  in 
store  for  them.  In  another 
rhetorical  ode,  The  Bard, 
he  pictures  an  aged  Welsh 
minstrel    standing    on    the 

rock  "o'er  cold  Conway's  foaming  flood"  hurling  his  curses 
at  the  English  invaders  under  Edward  I  and  then  plung- 
ing headlong  into  the  roaring  stream. 

The  Elegy  in  a  Country  Churchyard  (1750)  is  Gray's 
masterpiece  and  will  by  itself  suflSce  to  perpetuate  his  name, 
though  discerning  critics  agree  that  it  has  been  too  highly 
estimated.  In  spite  of  Gray's  adoption  of  the  quatrain 
form  in  place  of  the  heroic  couplet,  there  is  much  of  the 
classical  spirit  about  the  poem.     The  finely  polished  lines 


Thomas  Gray 


260 


EARLY  ROMx\NTICISM 


and  the  aptly  chosen  epithets  are  suggestive  of  Pope  at  his 
best.  The  sentiment,  of  course,  is  more  distinctive  and 
strikes  a  new  note  in  directing  sympathetic  consideration 
for  the  "short  and  simple  annals  of  the  poor."  In  the 
twilight  hour  of  evening  the  poet  meditates  over  the  thwarted 
yearnings  of  those  who  sleep  beneath  the  tomb-stones; 
he  fashions  in  glowing  phrases  his  exalted  sermon  on  the 
vanity  of  worldly  ambition.  The  broken  lives  of  the  "rude 
forefathers  of  the  hamlet"  betoken  for  him  the  unrealized 
possibilities  of  humanity  in  all  walks  of  life;   yet  he  warns 


View  of  VAon  College 


those  proud  persons  who  move  in  high  places  that  "the 
paths  of  glory  lead  but  to  the  grave."  Although  like  Young 
in  his  Night  Thoughts,  Gray  chose  a  melancholy  subject, 
he  developed  a  trend  of  thought  that  was  quickly  grasped 
by  all  readers.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  no  other  single  poem 
in  our  language  is  more  generally  admired. 

Gray  had  an  opportunity  to  become  Poet  Laureate  in 
1757,  but  dechned  the  position.  His  Letters  (1775)  are 
among  the  most  interesting  of  that  period,  and  reveal  him 
as  a  man  of  discernment  and  of  pleasing  personality.     He 


WILLIAM  COWPER 


eel 


wrote  them  in  a  style  neither  affected  nor  stilted,  but  frank, 
fluent,  and  vivacious.  Some  critics  insist  that  Gray's 
contijibution  to  the  art  of  letter-writing  is  more  significant 
than  his  contribution  to  poetry,  because  in  spite  of  the  great 
popularity  of  the  Elegy,  it  must  be  admitted  that  a  poet 
like  Collins,  for  example, 
was  far  more  modern  in 
spirit  and  really  deserved 
to  rank  higher  in  the  galaxy 
of  poets.  Gray  died  in  1771 
and  was  buried  in  Stoke 
Pogis  Church.  Johnson 
treated  him  very  unfairly 
in  the  Lives  of  the  Poets, 
but  posterity  has  decided 
that  the  author  of  the 
Elegy  is  entitled  to  high 
place  among  the  immortals. 
15.  William  Cowper 
(1731-1800)  was  born  at 
Great  Berkhamstead,  in 
Hertfordshire,  where  his 
father  was  rector.     He  was 

educated  at  Westminster  School  and  studied  law  in  the 
Middle  Temple,  but  at  an  early  age  developed  mental 
trouble  that  interfered  with  an  active  career.  He  lived 
most  of  his  life  in  quiet  retirement  writing  hymns  and 
miscellaneous  poetry  whenever  he  was  free  from  recurrent 
attacks  of  insanity.  His  fiftieth  birthday  had  passed  before 
he  published  anything  of  importance.  His  most  ambitious 
poem,  The  Task,  appeared  in  1785,  and  his  blank- verse 
translation  of  Homer  in  1791.  Friends  secured  for  him  a 
pension  of  £300  in  1794,  which  assured  his  comfort  during 
the  few  remaining  years  of  his  life.  There  is  deep  pathos 
in  these  beautiful  lines; 


Stoke  Pogis  Churchyard 


262 


EARLY  ROMANTICISM 


I  was  a  stricken  deer  that  left  the  herd 
Long  since;  with  many  an  arrow  deep  infixed 
My  panting  side  was  charged,  when  I  withdrew 
To  seek  a  tranquil  death  in  distant  shades. 
There  was  I  found  by  One  who  had  Himself 
Been  hurt  by  archers. 

Cowper's  writing  reflects  a  curious  mixture  of  old  and  new 
poetical  tradition.  At  times  he  produced  the  most  conven- 
tional heroic  couplets  in  the  manner  of  an  uninspired  follower 

of  Pope;  at  other  times  he 
showed  a  quality  of  poetic 
diction  and  a  sincere  love  of 
nature  suggestive  of  Words- 
worth. On  the  whole,  however, 
the  greater  part  of  his  poetry 
is  reminiscent  of  the  older  age 
rather  than  indicative  of  the 
new.  The  Task,  in  which  we 
find  the  best  of  his  nature 
poetry,  is  a  long  poem  in  blank 
verse.  The  title  was  derived 
from  the  fact  that  Cowper 
asked  one  Lady  Austen  for  a 
suitable  subject,  and  she  sug- 
gested the  sofa,  not  because  it 
was  at  all  suitable,  but  as  a  task 
to  try  his  inventive  powers.  He  accepted  the  challenge,  but 
after  describing  the  evolution  of  the  sofa  from  the  humble 
stool,  he  proceeded  in  rambling  verse  to  discourse  of  nature, 
history,  and  philosophy  —  but  not  without  frequent  lapses 
into  the  earlier  style.     The  poet  who  sang  with  yearning 

Oh  for  a  lodge  in  some  vast  wilderness, 
Some  boundless  contiguity  of  shade, 
Where  rumor  of  oppression  and  deceit, 
Of  unsuccessful  or  successful  war 
Might  never  reach  me  more! 


William  Cowper 


GEORGE  CRABBE  263 

also  wrote 

Who  loves  a  garden,  loves  a  greenhouse  too. 
Unconscious  of  a  less  propitious  clime 
There  blooms  exotic  beauty,  warm  and  snug. 
While  the  winds  whistle  and  the  snows  descend. 

The  merry  ballad  of  John  Gilpin's  Ride  assures  Cowper  s 
place  among  English  poets,  but  it  is  at  best  a  literary  trifle. 
Among  his  more  serious  poems  the  most  notable  are  Lines 
on  the  Receipt  of  my  Mother^ s  Picture  and  The  Castaway.  Like 
Gray,  he  was  an  admirable  letter-writer  in  a  leisurely  age 
that -was  famous  for  its  masters  of  that  lost  art.  Most 
critics  accept  his  letters  as  the  best  of  his  works.  They  not 
only  reveal  a  delicate  sense  of  humor  and  high  imaginative 
power,  but  show  how  superbly  his  spirits  rose  above  the 
heavy  afliictions  that  fate  had  visited  upon  him. 

16.  George  Crabbe  (1754-1832)  was  much  like  Cowper 
in  his  literary  work,  although  he  lived  nearly  a  generation 
later.  He  was  a  self-educated  man,  for  some  years  servant 
to  a  country  doctor,  then  a  surgeon.  He  finally  entered  the 
Church  and  held  various  livings  during  his  uneventful 
career.  One  of  the  curious  facts  about  Crabbe's  work  is 
the  survival  of  the  heroic  couplet  long  after  it  had  lost  general 
favor,  but  he  managed  to  inject  considerable  modern  feeling 
into  the  poems  that  he  cast  into  that  discredited  mold. 
His  earlier  poems,  The  Library  (1781),  The  Village  (1783), 
and  The  Newspaper  (1785),  deal  vigorously  with  the  prosaic 
themes  suggested  by  their  titles.  They  abound  in  realistic 
and  picturesque  detail,  but  lack  in  poetic  imagination. 
The  significant  note  in  Crabbe's  work  is  his  sincere  sympathy 
for  the  lower  classes.  He  himself  had  grown  up  in  poverty 
and  he  knew  whereof  he  wrote.     Thus  in  The  Village  we  read: 

I  grant  indeed  that  fields  and  flocks  have  charms 
For  him  that  grazes  or  for  him  that  farms; 
But  when  amid  such  pleasing  scenes  I  trace 
The  poor  laborious  natives  of  the  place. 
And  see  the  mid-day  sun,  with  fervid  ray. 
On  their  bare  heads,  and  dewy  temples  play; 


^64 


EARLY  ROMANTICISM 


While  some  with  feebler  hands  and  fainter  hearts. 
Deplore  their  fortune,  yet  sustain  their  parts; 
Then  shall  I  dare  these  real  ills  to  hide 
In  tinsel  trappings  of  poetic  pride? 

After  a  period  of  twenty  years,  during  which  he  devoted 
himself  to  his  clerical  duties  and  published  nothing,  Crabbe 
again  embarked  upon  a  period  of  literary  activity.  He 
brought  out  The  Parish  Register  (1807),  The  Borough  (1810), 
Tales  in  Verse  (1812),  and  Tales  of  the  Hall  (1819).  There 
was  little  evidence  in  these  later  poems  of  any  change  in 
attitude  on  Crabbe's  part  as  a  result  of  the  new  development 
in  poetry  that  had  taken  place  between  the  two  periods. 
Crabbe's  work  would  perhaps  be  more  highly  appreciated 
if  it  were  not  judged  as  poetry,  but  as  a  series  of  realistic 
stories,  mostly  of  English  provincial  life  and  incidentally 
written  in  an  archaic  verse  form. 

17.  WiUiam  Blake  (1757- 
1827)  was  the  most  original  of 
all  the  Early  Romantic  writers. 
He  belonged  to  no  age  and 
followed  no  fashion.  He  was 
born  in  London  and  spent  most 
of  his  life  there.  After  serving 
an  apprenticeship  with  an  en- 
graver, he  took  up  engraving 
as  a  means  of  livelihood  and 
later  conducted  a  printseller's 
shop.  Although  his  chief  busi- 
ness in  life  was  drawing  and 
engraving,  he  also  devoted 
much  time  to  the  composition 
of  mystical  books  in  which 
he  posed  as  a  prophet.  His  reputation  as  a  poet  rests  upon 
three  slender  volumes  produced  early  in  his  career:  Poetical 
Sketches  (1783),  Songs  of  Innocence   (1789),  and   Songs  of 


William  Blake 


WILLIAM  BLAKE  265 

Experience  (1794).  These  quaint,  delicate  little  pieces  are 
quite  unlike  anything  else  in  our  literature.  Some  of  them 
are  at  once  readily  understood  by  a  child  and  too  subtle 
for  many  a  philosopher.  There  is  a  charming  simplicity 
about  them  and  an  unrestrained  play  of  the  imagination 
that  is  in  harmony  with  the  happy  age  of  childhood.  Their 
defects,  as  well  as  their  graces,  spring  from  Blake's  own 
childlike  nature.    The  following  poem  is  typical: 

Ah!  Sunflower!  weary  of  time 

Who  countest  the  steps  of  the  sun. 
Seeking  after  that  sweet  golden  prime 

Where  the  traveller's  journey  is  done; 
Where  the  Youth  pined  away  with  desire, 

And  the  pale  virgin  shrouded  in  snow. 
Arise  from  their  graves,  and  aspire 

Where  my  sunflower  wishes  to  go! 

No  reader  of  Blake  is  Ukely  to  forget  The  Lamb,  The  Evening 
Star,  or  To  the  Muses;  nor  must  we  overlook  the  splendid 

Tiger,  Tiger,  burning  bright 
In  the  forest  of  the  night. 
What  immortal  hand  or  eye 
Framed  thy  fearful  symmetry? 

with  its  memorable  concluding  stanza  —  a  stroke  of  poetic 
genius: 

When  the  stars  threw  down  their  spears. 
And  watered  Heaven  with  their  tears. 
Did  He  smile  His  work  to  see.^* 
Did  He  who  made  the  lamb  make  thee? 

With  Blake's  mystical  works  and  his  weird  prophecies  we 
are  not  particularly  concerned.  He  was  always  seeing 
visions  and  recording  them  either  in  word  or  in  design. 
"I  have  very  little  of  Mr.  Blake's  company,"  once  said  his 
devoted  wife,  "he  is  always  in  Paradise."  Those  who  were 
not  acquainted  with  Blake  pronounced  him  mad;  those 
who  knew  him  well  knew  better.    He  lived  in  a  dream-world 


^6Q 


EARLY  ROMANTICISM 


of  his  own  creating.  Now  and  then  he  accorded  to  his  fellow- 
men  a  glimpse  of  what  he  had  seen.  He  made  no  effort  to 
please  the  reading  public,  and  he  cared  httle  what  others 
said  about  him.  He  was  from  first  to  last  an  eccentric 
individualist  who  did  as  he  pleased.  The  world  eventually 
accepted  him  as  a  poet  with  a  message,  and  it  still  studies 
his  quaint  verses  to  find  out  their  hidden  meanings. 


.   ROBERT   BURNS    (1759-1796) 

18.   A  Tragic  Life.     Robert  Burns  was  born  in  1759  in  a 
humble  cottage  near  Alloway  Kirk,  about  two  miles  south 

of  Ayr,  in  Scotland.  He 
was  the  eldest  of  the 
seven  children  of 
Wiliam  Burns,  a  man 
of  stern  morality  and 
considerable  intelli- 
gence. Robert  received 
a  fairly  good  elemen- 
tary education  and  took 
up  work  on  his  father's 
farm.  At  twenty-three 
he  undertook  business 
as  a  flax-dresser  at 
Irvine,  but  made  a 
failure  of  the  venture 
and  returned  to  the 
farm.  Two  years  later 
he  and  his  brother  Gil- 
bert took  up  farming 
at  Mossgiel,  but  this 
likewise  turned  out  badly.  He  accepted  a  clerkship  in 
Jamaica  and  to  defray  the  expenses  of  his  journey 
thither  decided  to  publish  a  volume  of  songs  and  poems 


Robert  Bums 


ROBERT  BURNS 


267 


that  he  had  composed  during  his  working  hours  at  the 
plow  or  In  the  farmyard.  This  edition  was  printed  at 
Kilmarnock  In  1786  and  has  since  become  one  of  the  most 
treasured  of  books.  Encouraged  by  the  cordial  reception  of 
his  Poems,  he  gave  up  all  thought  of  emigrating  to  Jamaica 
and  went  to  Edinburgh  Instead,  where  he  brought  out  a 
second  edition  In  1787.  He  was  well  received  In  literary 
circles  during  the  first  winter  In  Edinburgh,  but  unfortu- 
nately he  yielded  to  intemperance  and  shocked  his  refined 
hosts  by  his  habits.  When  he  next  visited  the  city,  he  was 
so  coldly  treated  that  he  soon  returned  to  his  home,  angered 
by  what  he  considered  the  fickleness  of  the  public. 

In  1788  Burns  married  Jean  Armour,  one  of  hls_manx_ 
sweethearts,  and  undertook  to  manage  a  farm  at  Elllsland, 
near  Dumfries.  As 
farming  once  more 
proved  an  unprofitable 
business,  he  secured  a 
position  as  exciseman 
or  ganger,  for  which  he 
received  the  meager 
pay  of  £50  per  annum. 
This  position,  more- 
over, increased  his 
opportunities  for  dissi- 
pation. After  a  few 
tragic  years  of  declin- 
ing health  he  died  at 

Dumfries,   1796,  at  the  age  of  thirty-seven, 
last   days   of   his    wretched   life    he    had    to 


Bums's  Birthplace 


During  the 
conquer  his 

pride  to  the  extent  of  writing  the  most  pathetic  letters  to 
his  friends,  begging  them  for  a  few  pounds  to  keep  him  from 
being  sent  to  jail  for  debt.  His  beautiful  song,  "O  wert 
thou  In  the  cauld  blast, "  was  among  the  last  to  be  written 
during  that  final  distressing  period  of  his  career. 


268  EARLY   ROMANTICISM 

19.  The  Poetry  of  Burns.  There  is  no  bewildering  Ust  of 
titles  to  consider  in  taking  up  the  works  of  Burns.  The 
best  of  his  poetry  will  be  found  in  the  Kilmarnock  edition, 
which  includes  not  only  the  shorter  lyrics  that  have  become 
universally  popular,  but  also  The  Cotter's  Saturday  Night, 
which  is  undoubtedly  the  finest  of  his  longer  poems.  The 
scene  depicts  the  home-coming  of  the  cotter's  family  for  the 
week-end  reunion.  There  is  the  joyful  greeting  of  the 
younger  children;  the  exchange  of  local  gossip;  the  welcom- 
ing of  the  eldest  daughter's  lover  to  the  modest  supper  of 
porridge,  milk,  and  cheese.  The  poem  ends  with  the  in- 
voking of  the  Divine  blessing  upon  the  lowly  family,  so 
typical  of  the  devout  and  hardy  race  of  Scots : 

From  scenes  like  these,  old  Scotia's  grandeur  springs, 
That  makes  her  lov'd  at  home,  rever'd  abroad. 
Princes  and  lords  are  but  the  breath  of  kings, 
*'  An  honest  man's  the  noblest  work  of  God." 

The  last  line,  quoted  from  Pope's  Essay  on  Man,  takes  on  a 
new  meaning  in  Burns's  fervent  plea  for  humanity  that 
characterizes  The  Cotter's  Saturday  Night.  In  that  admirable 
Scotch  idyl  are  reflected  many  of  the  traits  of  the  new 
romanticism,  including  the  interest  in  lowly  lives,  a  devout 
relig^us  spirit,  and  a  deep  contempt  for  hypocrisy  and 
tyranny.  In  his  later  work,  which  was  more  carefully 
written,  Burns  was  often  less  spontaneous.  He  was  at  his 
best  when  he  wrote  in  the  Scots  dialect,  which  was  his 
native  tongue.  Academic  English  flowed  with  a  certain 
stiffness  from  his  pen,  whether  in  poetry  or  prose. 

In  Burns's  longer  poems,  such  as  The  Jolly  Beggars,  The 
Address  to  the  Deil,  and  Tarn  O'Shanter,  there  is  grim  humor 
and  much  local  color.  The  most  familiar  of  these  is  the 
famous  tale  of  Tam,  who  one  night  at  the  inn  found  the  ale 
growing  ever  better,  but  finally  mounted  his  horse  for  his 
dreary  ride  homeward  in  the  storm.     What  a  picture  we 


ROBERT   BURNS  269 

have  of  the  witches'  mad  frolic  in  the  graveyard  *'by  Allo- 
way's  auld  haunted  kirk,"  the  mad  dance  to  the  piping  of 
Old  Nick  while  the  shrouded  dead  hold  candles  aloft  to 
light  up  the  weird  scene,  and  then  the  wild  pursuit  of  poor 
Tam  by  the  helUsh  spirits! 

The  shorter  poems,  however,  are  still  more  highly  regarded. 
Among  the  best  of  his  many  love-poems  are  The  Banks 
o'  Dooriy  Highland  Mary,  Afton  Water,  and  I'o  Mary  in 
Heaven.  In  them  is  echoed  his  passionate  attachment  to 
his  beloved  Highland  sweetheart: 

Flow  gently,  sweet  Afton,  among  thy  green  braes. 
Flow  gently,  I'll  sing  thee  a  song  in  thy  praise; 
My  Mary's  asleep  by  thy  murmuring  stream  — 
Flow  gently,  sweet  Afton,  disturb  not  her  dream. 

The  love  for  nature  revealed  in  so  many  of  his  lyrics  is  that 
of  a  singer  who  has  lived  close  to  nature  and  who  is  sincere 
in  his  emotion.  His  sympathy  for  the  "  wee,  modest,  crimson- 
tipped  flow'r"  or  for  the  shivering  little  field-mouse  would 
have  been  beyond  the  comprehension  of  Pope  and  his  kind, 
except  on  the  ground  that  Burns  was  a  common  fellow  who 
was  interested  in  low  things.  Throughout  his  poetry  we 
find  flashes  of  a  larger  philosophy  explaining  nature's  kin- 
ship with  man.  If  that  kinship  has  been  in  any  way  dis- 
turbed, it  is  man's  own  fault.  Thus  to  the  field-mouse  he 
declares : 

I'm  truly  sorry  man's  dominion. 

Has  broken  Nature's  social  union. 

And  justifies  that  ill  opinion. 
Which  makes  thee  startle 

At  me,  thy  poor,  earth-born  companion 
An'  fellow  mortal! 

But  the  man  who  sang  so  sweetly  of  love  and  of  the  world 
about  him  was  also  ready  to  chant  the  praises  of  the  flowing 
bowl.     His  convivial  songs  were  the  offspring  of  a  spirit 


270  EARLY  ROMANTICISM 

that  was  iinfortunately  too  ready  to  drain  a  bumper  in 
memory  of  John  Barleycorn  or  to 

Take  a  cup  of  kindness  yet 
For  auld  lang  syne. 

There  are  other  more  laudable  flights  of  his  muse.  His 
patriotic  pride  in  Scotland,  voiced  again  and  again  in  his 
poems,  gave  us  that  trumpet-blast  of  freedom,  Scots  wha 
hae  wV  Wallace  hled^  and  the  exalted  rhapsody  at  the  end  of 
The  Cotter's  Saturday  Night.  But  Burns  was  not  a  narrow- 
minded  patriot;  he  was  essentially  the  poet  of  all  humanity, 
for  he  sang  a  strain  that  all  could  understand.  In  his  poetry 
he  prayed  for  that  spark  of  Nature's  fire  which  would  enable 
his  homely  muse  to  touch  the  heart  —  and  his  prayer  was 
surely  answered.  He  was  eloquent  in  his  denunciation  of 
social  injustice,  of  religious  hypocrisy,  of  oppression  in  every 
form.  To  a  generation  that  was  loath  to  forego  its  worship 
of  place  and  power,  he  proclaimed  the  watchword  of  a  new 
democracy, 

A  man's  a  man  for  a'  that. 

Burns  had  lived  and  suffered  in  the  midst  of  those  whose 
wrongs  he  made  known;  his  proud  soul  had  experienced  the 
contempt  and  the  slights  of  those  in  high  places.  There  is 
a  hint  of  the  impending  social  revolution  in  his  v 

Princes  and  lords  are  but  the  breath  of  kings. 

Through  the  genius  of  the  poor  Scotch  plowman  the 
world  had  its  warning  of  the  coming  democracy  quite  as 
definitely  as  in  the  learned  treatises  of  the  French  philoso- 
phers who  helped  to  mold  public  opinion  before  the  breaking 
of  the  storm. 


CHAPTER  X 
THE  ROMANTIC  PERIOD 

1.  New  Social  Ideals.  As  the  eighteenth  century  drew 
to  a  close,  the  various  influences  that  had  begun  to  make 
themselves  felt  in  a  small  way  during  the  Early  Romantic 
period  grew  in  strength.  Men  perceived  that  the  superficial 
brilliancy  of  Augustan  or  classical  tradition  had  no  enduring 
worth.  Those  in  the  upper  circles  of  society  had  known 
the  best  that  life  could  offer;  those  below  were  existing  under 
intolerable  conditions.  The  rank  and  file  of  humanity  were 
suffering  from  abuses  that  demanded  correction.  For  a 
time  the  aristocrats  disregarded  the  manifest  trend  of  events 
as  foreshadowed  in  the  writings  of  the  French  essayists  and 
in  such  English  poets  as  Collins,  Goldsmith,  and  most  im- 
portant of  all.  Burns.  Even  when  the  nobility  reahzed  that 
an  intellectual  revolution  was  under  way,  they  did  not  fore- 
see that  a  social  and  a  political  revolution  were  also  at  hand. 

The  oppressed  dreamed  visions  of  a  new  humanity  and  a 
new  democracy;  the  oppressors  went  serenely  on,  leading 
their  shallow,  frivolous  fives  as  they  pleased,  and  passing 
the  burden  of  their  extravagance  on  to  the  working  classes 
in  the  form  of  heavy  taxation.  Far-sighted  statesmen  and 
prophetic  poets  uttered  their  warnings  in  vain.  Europe  saw 
a  great  experiment  in  democracy  getting  a  chance  in  America; 
it  meditated  over  the  doctrines  and  principles  enunciated 
in  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  the  American 
Constitution.  Europe  likewise  clamored  for  political  equafity 
and  the  "rights  of  man."     There  were  riots  in  London  as 

271 


272  THE   ROMANTIC   PERIOD 

well  as  on  the  Continent.  Aristocracy  still  hoped,  rather 
foolishly,  that  the  new  impulses  might  be  smothered.  Then, 
on  the  fourteenth  of  July,  1789  —  a  fateful  day  in  modern 
history  —  the  people  of  Paris  seized  and  destroyed  the 
Bastille.  The  French  Revolution  was  at  last  an  accom- 
pHshed  fact. 

2.  The  French  Revolution.  With  the  breaking  of  the 
storm  all  social  traditions  were  swept  aside,  and  in  the  course 
of  a  few  bloody  years  European  society  was  made  anew.  In 
spite  of  the  warnings  of  Burke,  many  of  the  younger  literary 
men  of  England  sympathized  with  the  principles  of  the 
Revolution  and  saw  in  it  the  dawning  of  a  better  day  for  all 
mankind.  The  later  excesses  of  the  revolutionists,  when  they 
sent  the  French  King  and  Queen  to  the  guillotine  and  in- 
stituted the  Reign  of  Terror,  brought  about  a  revulsion 
of  feehng.  For  the  next  twenty  years  England  had  to  face 
the  new  menace  of  Napoleon  and  his  attempts  to  undermine 
her  power.  The  great  victories  of  Trafalgar  and  Waterloo 
revived  much  of  the  Elizabethan  spirit  that  came  in  the 
wake  of  the  Armada. 

In  the  midst  of  the  great  political  upheaval  came  the  real 
triumph  of  romanticism  in  the  world  of  literature.  The 
spirit  of  the  new  age  spelled  enthusiasm,  earnestness,  and 
sincerity.  Once  more  England  had  recourse  to  poetry  to 
express  her  deep  emotion  over  the  changing  order  of  society. 
Literature  abandoned  the  heroic  couplet,  the  poHshed  figures, 
the  stock  phrases  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  voiced  its 
new  message  in  the  simple,  clear-cut  language  of  Words- 
worth, Coleridge,  and  Scott.  A  little  later  came  the  work  of 
Byron,  Shelley,  and  Keats,  all  of  whom  were  much  influenced 
by  the  principles  of  the  Revolution.  It  was  no  longer  an  age 
in  which  one  leader  could  dominate  the  intellectual  life  as 
in  the  days  of  Dryden,  Pope,  or  Johnson.  There  was,  how- 
ever, one  writer  whose  work  best  represented  the  conditions 
of  the  romantic  triumph  —  and  that  was  Wordsworth. 


WILLIAM   WORDSWORTH 


273 


WILLIAM   WORDSWORTH   (1770-1850) 

3.  A  Lover  of  Nature.  In  the  little  town  of  Cockermouth, 
Cumberland,  not  far  from  the  lovely  Lake  District  of  north- 
western England,  WilUam  Wordsworth  was  born  in  1770. 
His  father,  John  Wordsworth,  was  an  attorney  and  land- 
agent.  William  was  sent  to  school  in  the  village  of  Hawks- 
head  and  spent  much  of  his  boyhood  in  the  midst  of  the 
picturesque  country 
that  he  was  later  to 
describe  so  graphically 
in  his  poetry.  His 
mother  died  when  he 
was  eight  years  old  and 
his  father  died  five 
years  later.  Even  as  a 
boy  Wordsworth  pon- 
dered over  the  manifes- 
tations of  nature  all 
about  him  and  tried  to 
establish  their  signifi- 
cance to  humankind. 
Two  uncles  undertook 
to  look  after  his  educa- 
tion and  at  seventeen 
he  entered  St.  John's 
College,    Cambridge. 

His  career  at  the  University  was  not  eventful.  Words- 
worth had  but  little  interest  in  academic  subjects  as 
they  were  taught,  and  he  was  graduated  four  years  later 
without  distinction.  During  his  last  vacation,  which  was 
spent  in  Switzerland  and  Italy,  he  had  his  first  opportunity 
to  behold  nature  in  her  wilder  aspects  and  to  look  upon 
mountain  scenery  far  more  majestic  than  that  of  the  Lake 
Country.    He  spent  about  a  year  m  France  after  his  gradua- 


William  Wordsworth 


274 


THE  ROMANTIC  PERIOD 


tion  and  then  returned  to  England  to  settle  down  in  Penrith 
with  his  sister  Dorothy.  Shortly  afterwards  he  published 
two  slender  volumes  of  verse.  The  Evening  Walk  (1793)  and 
Descriptive  Sketches  (1793),  neither  of  which  has  any  definite 
indication  of  the  greater  message  that  was  to  come.  It  is 
noteworthy  that  in  both  poems  Wordsworth  used  the  heroic 
couplet,  but  in  spirit  they  are  more  modern  than  such  choice 
of  meter  would  indicate.  In  1794  a  young  friend  named 
Raisley   Calvert  died,  bequeathing   £900  to  Wordsworth. 


St.  John's  College,  Cambridge 


Although  the  sum  was  not  large,  it  made  the  poet  independent 
and  enabled  him  to  devote  his  time  entirely  to  literature. 

4.  Meeting  with  Coleridge.  Shortly  after  he  removed 
with  his  sister  to  Racedown,  in  Dorsetshire,  he  made  the 
acquaintance  of  Coleridge  and  a  life-long  friendship  developed 
between  them.  Dorothy  Wordsworth  was  a  sympathetic 
woman  of  unusual  personality,  and  she  influenced  both  her 
brother  and  Coleridge  by  her  critical  comment  on  their 
work.  When  Coleridge  moved  to  Nether  Stowey,  Words- 
worth took  a  home  at  Alfoxden,  about  three  miles  away, 
and  the  two  poets  spent  much  of  their  time  together.  Dur- 
ing the  spring  of  1798  they  worked  on  a  joint  volume  of 


WILLIAM  WORDSWORTH  275 

poems  which  they  had  planned  to  defray  the  expenses  of  a 
trip  to  Germany;  as  it  turned  out,  this  volume  was  destined 
to  be  one  of  the  most  important  in  the  history  of  English 
poetry.  Lyrical  Ballads  (1798),  as  they  called  it,  appeared 
anonymously  and  attracted  little  favorable  comment  from 
the  critics,  but  the  people  bought  it  eagerly,  and  several  new 
editions  were  needed  during  the  next  few  years.  Words- 
worth's contributions  included  his  Lines  Composed  a  Few 
Miles  above  T intern  Abbey y  Lines  Written  in  Early  Spring y 
and  the  well-known  We  Are  Seven.  Virtually  all  the  princi- 
ples of  Wordsworth's  poetic  creed  are  expressed  in  those 
few  poems.  Coleridge's  contributions  were  few,  but  The 
Rime  of  the  Ancient  Mariner,  his  best-known  poem,  had  the 
place  of  honor  at  the  beginning  of  the  collection.  Just  about 
the  time  the  Lyrical  Ballads  were  pubhshed,  the  two  poets, 
accompanied  by  Dorothy  Wordsworth,  sailed  for  Germany. 
The  Wordsworths  did  not  enjoy  the  winter  spent  there 
and  were  glad  to  return  to  England  in  spring.  They  settled 
at  Grasmere  in  the  Lake  District,  occupying  Dove  Cottage, 
which  is  now  one  of  the  notable  hterary  shrines  of  the 
country. 

5.  Life  in  the  Lake  District.  In  1802  Wordsworth  married 
his  cousin  Mary  Hutchinson  and  thereafter  lived  a  quiet, 
uneventful  hfe,  surrounded  by  his  family.  During  the  first 
few  years  of  his  married  life  he  wrote  many  of  the  beautiful 
sonnets  that  rank  among  the  finest  specimens  in  that  form 
in  English.  Milton  alone  among  sonneteers  is  comparable 
with  Wordsworth  at  his  best.  The  later  poet's  mastery  of 
the  form  is  best  illustrated  in  such  sonnets  as  those  entitled 
Mutability;  Composed  upon  Westminster  Bridge;  London, 
1802  (his  sonnet  on  Milton) ;  Composed  upon  the  Beach  near 
Calais;  and  the  admirable  unnamed  sonnet  beginning  "The 
world  is  too  much  with  us."  Wordsworth  would  have  been 
entitled  to  high  rank  among  the  English  poets  if  we  had 
only  his  sonnets  on  which  to  base  his  claims. 


276  THE  ROMANTIC  PERIOD 

His  Ode  on  Intimations  of  Immortality  (1806)  is  one  of  the 
supreme  achievements  in  our  intellectual  poetry.  Words- 
worth's meditations  over  the  most  interesting  of  all  problems 
—  the  relation  of  man  to  the  great  universe  beyond  the 
earth  —  are  replete  with  passages  of  solemn  majesty  and 
memorable  cadence.  Few  of  his  later  works  vie  with  this 
splendid  ode  for  perfect  correlation  of  form  and  content, 
and  for  real  artistic  worth.  The  essence  of  Wordsworth's 
philosophy  is  summed  up  in  the  sonorous  fifth  stanza  of 
that   notable  poem: 

Our  birth  is  but  a  sleep  and  a  forgetting: 
The  Soul  that  rises  with  us,  our  life's  Star, 

Hath  had  elsewhere  its  setting. 
And  Cometh  from  afar: 

Not  in  entire  forgetfulness. 

And  not  in  utter  nakedness. 
But  trailing  clouds  of  glory  do  we  come 

From  God,  who  is  our  home: 
Heaven  lies  about  us  in  our  infancy! 
Shades  of  the  prison-house  begin  to  close 

Upon  the  growing  Boy, 
But  He  beholds  the  light,  and  whence  it  flows. 

He  sees  it  in  his  joy; 
The  Youth,  who  daily  farther  from  the  east 

Must  travel,  still  is  Nature's  Priest, 

And  by  the  vision  splendid 

Is  on  his  way  attended; 
At  length  the  Man  perceives  it  die  away. 
And  fade  into  the  light  of  common  day. 

A  long  autobiographical  poem,  The  Excursion,  which  he 
pubKshed  in  nine  books  in  1814,  contains  some  lofty  stretches 
of  verse,  but  it  is  very  uneven  and  tedious  in  parts.  A  year 
later  he  collected  his  Poetical  Works  and  wrote  for  the  volume 
an  important  Preface  that  ranks  as  one  of  our  significant 
essays  in  literary  criticism. 

An  appointment  as  Distributor  of  Stamps  for  Westmore- 
land at  a  salary  of  £400  enabled  Wordsworth  to  move  to  a 


WILLIAM  WORDSWORTH 


277 


Dove  Cottage  ' '  ^ 


larger  home  at  Rydal  Mount,  near  Ambleside,  which  he 
occupied  for  the  rest  of  his  long  life.  He  was  fond  of  travel 
during  his  later  years,  and  in  1828,  precisely  thirty  years 
after  his  first  visit  to  Germany,  he  made  a  tour  of  the  Rhine 
with  Coleridge.  Although  England  was  slow  in  recognizing 
the  genius  of  the  writer  whom  she  later  acknowledged  to  be 
the  leading  poet  of  the  century,  honors  began  to  come  to 
him  from  various  sources.  Oxford  conferred  upon  him  in 
1839  the  degree  of 
D.C.L.,  and  in  1843  he 
succeeded  Southey  as 
Poet  Laureate.  How- 
ever, he  wrote  little  of 
any  importance  during 
the  remaining  years. 
He  died  in  1850  and 
was  buried  in  Grasmere 
Churchyard  beside  his 
favorite  daughter  Dora.  In  the  same  year  was  published 
The  Preludey  another  long  poem  in  which  he  had  much  to 
say  concerning  his  own  early  life  and  development. 

6.  Significance  of  Wordsworth.  Few  poets  have  written 
as  much  verse  as  Wordsworth;  virtually  none  wrote  verse 
that  is  more  unequal.  At  his  best  he  ranks  with  our  very 
greatest  names;  at  his  worst  he  is  incredibly  bad.  The 
reticence  that  marked  his  social  life  did  not  extend  to  his 
writings.  He  composed  so  steadily  that  much  of  his  work, 
in  the  nature  of  things,  was  bound  to  be  commonplace. 
Hence  he  is  a  poet  to  be  studied  in  selections  made  by 
competent  critics  —  a  task  that  was  well  done  by  Matthew 
Arnold  and  by  several  later  editors.  To  those  who  become 
familiar  with  the  great  bulk  of  his  verse  the  hmitations  of 
Wordsworth  are  soon  evident.  His  lack  of  humor  permitted 
him  to  print  uninspired  poems  that  aroused  the  ridicule  of 
Byron  and  other  irreverent  contemporaries,  and  caused  the 


278  THE  ROMANTIC  PERIOD 

author  much  annoyance.  Because  of  his  reticence  and  his 
preference  for  solitude  he 'worked  within  a  somewhat  re- 
stricted range  of  human  experience,  which  cramped  his 
appreciation  for  the  complexity  of  human  character,  but 
within  his  own  range  his  achievement  stands  supreme. 

In  early  life  Wordsworth  was  a  liberal,  in  full  sympathy 
with  the  principles  of  the  French  Revolution.  The  ghastly 
excesses  of  the  Reign  of  Terror  and  its  apostles  of  blood 
brought  about  a  revulsion  of  feeling.  He  became  conserva- 
tive and  in  his  later  years  even  provoked  the  censure  of  the 
younger  liberal  poets.  In  Wordsworth  we  find,  however, 
the  full  development  of  that  fine  sympathy  for  his  fellow- 
men  foreshadowed  in  the  work  of  Burns  and  a  few  others. 
This  trait  is  shown  at  its  best  in  his  poem  Michael,  an  im- 
pressive pastoral  tale  narrating  in  language  almost  Biblical 
in  its  simplicity  the  tragedy  of  a  poor  shepherd's  household. 
Note  how  simply,  yet  effectively,  he  describes  the  old 
shepherd : 

Upon  the  forest-side  in  Grasmere  Vale 
There  dwelt  a  Shepherd,  Michael  was  his  name; 
An  old  man,  stout  of  heart,  and  strong  of  limb. 
His  bodily  frame  had  been  from  youth  to  age 
Of  an  unusual  strength:  his  mind  was  keen. 
Intense,  and  frugal,  apt  for  all  affairs. 
And  in  his  shepherd's  calling  he  was  prompt 
And  watchful  more  than  ordinary  men. 

Wordsworth's  interpretation  of  child-life,  as  in  Lucy  Gray 
and  Alice  Fell,  also  strikes  a  new  note  in  English  literature. 
His  chief  claim  to  glory,  however,  lies  in  his  achievement 
as  the  greatest  of  all  nature  poets.  He  was  not  only  keenly 
alive  to  the  beauty  of  what  he  saw  about  him,  but  he  in- 
terpreted it  with  a  spiritual  insight  that  has  never  been 
excelled.  What  earlier  poets  of  nature  at  best  described 
with  fidelity  and  sincere  appreciation,  he  glorified  by  in- 
terpreting the  significance  of  that  manifestation.    Through- 


SAMUEL  TAYLOR  COLERIDGE  279 

out  life  he  contended  that  poetry  should  be  written  in  the 
natural  language  of  men  —  not  in  a  fanciful  literary  diction. 
His  simplicity  of  speech  sometimes  prevents  the  hasty 
reader  from  recognizing  the  subtlety  of  thought  behind  the 
mere  words.  The  lover  of  Wordsworth  feels  that  the  poet's 
conception  of  nature  is  like  an  inspiration.  He  had  the 
divine  gift  of  the  seer  who  can  penetrate  beyond  the  veil 
that  limits  the  human  eye.  From  his  youth  Wordsworth 
felt  that  poetry  was  for  him  a  consecration.  In  his  auto- 
biographical poems  we  can  learn  how  seriously  he  regarded 
this  solemn  duty  and  how  faithfully  he  labored  to  live  up 


Scene  in  the  Lake  Country 

to  that  obligation.  His  sense  of  responsibility  helped  to 
develop  that  fine  ethical  spirit  that  pervades  all  his  work 
and  gives  him  a  conspicuous  place  among  the  great  teachers 
of  mankind. 

SAMUEL  TAYLOR   COLERIDGE    (1772-1834) 

7.  A  Disordered  Life.  In  Ottery  St.  Mary,  Devonshire, 
there  was  born  in  1772  the  thirteenth  and  youngest  of  the 
children  of  the  Reverend  John  Coleridge.  The  boyhood  of 
Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge  was  precocious  and  was  charac- 


280 


THE  ROMANTIC  PERIOD 


terized  by  extensive  reading  of  ballads  and  romances.  His 
life,  unlike  that  of  Wordsworth,  was  eventful  and  full  of 
tragedy.  When  he  was  nine  his  father  died  and  Samuel 
was  entered  at  Christ's  Hospital,  the  famous  old  "Blue- 
coat  School"  established  in  London  by  the  boy-king  Edward 
VI.  Charles  Lamb  was  a  student  there  at  the  same  time; 
in  later  years  he  wrote  in  his  memorable  essay  Christ's 

Hospital  Five   and    Thirty 
Years  Ago  a  vivid  memorial 
of  those  early  associations: 

Come  back  into  memory, 
like  as  thou  wert  'in  the  day- 
spring  of  thy  fancies,  with 
hope  like  a  fiery  column  be- 
fore thee  —  the  dark  pillar 
not  yet  turned  —  Samuel 
Taylor  Coleridge  —  Logician, 
Metaphysician,  Bard!  How 
have  I  seen  the  casual  passer 
through  the  Cloisters  stand 
still,  entranced  with  admira- 
tion .  .  .  while  the  walls  of 
old  Grey  Friars  re-echoed 
to  the  accents  of  the  inspired 
charity  boy! 

Coleridge  was  the  recognized  intellectual  leader  of  the  group 
and  won  the  Exhibition  Scholarship  to  college.  In  1791  he 
matriculated  at  Jesus  College,  Cambridge,  but  soon  began 
to  neglect  his  studies.  Two  years  later  he  became  involved 
in  some  financial  difficulties,  ran  away  from  college  and 
enHsted  in  the  King's  Dragoons  under  the  assumed  name  of 
Silas  Tomkyn  Comberbach.  As  soon  as  his  relatives  learned 
of  his  whereabouts  they  secured  his  discharge  from  service. 
He  returned  to  college  in  1794,  but  left  soon  after  without  a 
degree.  During  a  visit  to  Oxford  he  met  Robert  Southey, 
and  together  they  planned  a  social  scheme  for  an  ideally 
governed  commonwealth  —  a  pantisocracy,  they  called  it  — 


Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge 


SAMUEL  TAYLOR  COLERIDGE 


281 


to  be  established  on  the  banks  of  the  Susquehanna,  in 
Pennsylvania.  The  project  failed,  because  they  lacked 
funds,  but  both  of  the  visionaries  found  themselves  married 
and  brothers-in-law  before  the  scheme  was  reluctantly 
abandoned.  Coleridge  married  (1795)  Sara  Fricker,  the 
sister  of  Edith  Fricker,  whom  Southey  married.  Both 
young  men  quickly  turned  to  hterary  work  to  support  their 
respective  wives.  Coleridge  gave  lectures,  pubUshed  his 
first  volume  of  Poems  (1796),  and  estabhshed  a  newspaper 
called  The  Watchman,  which  failed  after  the  tenth  number 
appeared. 

8.  The  Dark  Years.  The  story  of  Coleridge's  first  ac- 
quaintance with  Wordsworth  and  then-  joint  labors  in  pro- 
ducing the  Lyrical  Ballads  has 
already  been  related.  In  addi- 
tion to  The  Rime  of  the  Ancient 
Mariner,  the  Lyrical  Ballads 
included  three  other  pieces  by 
Coleridge.  These  were  The 
Foster-Mother's  Tale,  The 
Nightingale,  and  The  Dungeon. 
If  the  reviewers  of  those  days 
failed  to  detect  the  merit  of 
Wordsworth's  Lines  at  Tintern 
Abbey,  they  could  hardly  be 
expected  to  realize  the  signifi- 
cance of  The  Ancient  Mariner 
as  a  landmark  in  the  history 
of  English  romantic  poetry.  Coleridge  spent  his  time  in  Ger- 
many more  profitably  than  Wordsworth  did.  He  first  ac- 
quired a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  language,  then  attended 
courses  in  the  University  of  Gottingen.  The  first  important 
work  after  returning  to  England  was  his  translation  of 
Schiller's  Wallenstein  (1800),  a  fine  poetic  drama  which  some 
critics  estimate  more  highly  than  the  German  original.   About 


Coleridge's  Home,  Nether  Stowey 


282  THE  ROMANTIC  PERIOD 

this  time  Coleridge  yielded  to  a  temptation  that  almost 
wrecked  his  career  and  gave  him  an  undeserved  reputation 
for  indolence  and  irresolution.  The  use  of  opium,  which  he 
had  first  taken  to  relieve  neuralgia,  became  a  fixed,  un- 
conquerable habit,  sapping  his  energies  and  interfering  with 
the  completion  of  numerous  hterary  projects.  His  friends 
hoped  that  he  might  benefit  by  a  change  of  climate  and  sent 
him  abroad.  He  visited  Malta  and  Rome  in  1804-1806, 
returning  much  improved  and  once  more  ready  to  take  up 
his  work.  He  conducted  a  paper  called  The  Friend  in  1809- 
1810,  but  his  return  to  the  opium-habit  made  it  impossible  to 
continue  its  publication  regularly.  His  lectures  on  Shake- 
speare and  other  writers  in  1810-1813  attracted  much  atten- 
tion. The  lecture-rooms  were  crowded  to  the.  doors,  and  eager 
Usteners  even  perched  on  the  window-sills  while  Coleridge 
proceeded  in  rhapsodic  inspiration  to  pour  forth  his  critical 
ideas.  The  play  of  Remorse  (1813),  which  was  produced  at 
Drury  Lane  through  Byron's  influence,  was  successful  and 
brought  Coleridge  some  £400,  but  unfortunately  this  money 
merely  enabled  the  afflicted  poet  to  become  more  hopelessly 
enslaved  to  opium. 

9.  Years  of  Peace.  In  1816  Coleridge  recognized  that 
some  decisive  steps  must  be  taken  to  overcome  the  habit 
that  held  such  mastery  over  him.  He  put  himself  under 
the  care  of  Dr.  Gillman,  a  surgeon  of  Highgate  in  the  northern 
part  of  London.  For  the  remaining  eighteen  years  of  his 
life  he  continued  to  live  in  the  home  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Gillman, 
both  of  whom  ministered  faithfully  to  the  needs  of  their 
notable  guest.  Under  the  influence  of  these  good  friends 
he  regained  his  will-power  and  devoted  himself  once  more 
with  energy  to  his  literary  work.  The  results  during  the 
next  few  years  were  surprising.  He  published  his  lovely 
fragmentary  poem  Christabel  (1816),  and  prepared  a  collected 
edition  of  his  poems  under  the  title  Sibylline  Leaves  (1817) 
He  also  wrote  an  extensive  literary  autobiography  entitled 


SAMUEL  TAYLOR  COLERIDGE  283 

Biographia  Literaria  (1817),  which  contains  some  of  his 
most  illuminating  criticism.  His  last  lecture  course  was 
given  in  1818;  thereafter  he  devoted  himself  to  philosophical 
study  and  to  the  writing  of  books  dealing  with  religion  and 
philosophy.  The  most  important  of  these  was  Aids  to 
Reflection  (1825).  A  group  of  admiring  friends  and  students 
gathered  about  him  during  the  last  period  of  his  life  and 
listened  to  his  remarkable  conversations,  which  were  really 
monologues,  on  history,  philosophy,  and  literature.  Much 
of  his  Table-  Talk,  as  it  was  called,  was  carefully  taken  down 
and  published  after  his  death.  Hundreds  of  books  with 
his  annotations  or  marginalia  written  in  pencil  or  ink  on 
their  margins  attest  to  his  industry  during  those  later 
studious  years.  He  died  at  Dr.  Gillman's  home  in  1834 
and  was  buried  in  the  Highgate  Churchyard. 

10.  The  Works  of  Coleridge.  Most  critics  concede  that 
Coleridge  is  one  of  the  great  figures  in  Hterature.  He  was 
a  man  of  unusual  genius,  remarkable  for  the  high  quality 
of  his  work  in  so  many  fields  of  hterary  activity.  As  a  poet 
he  produced  a  large  volume  of  verse,  but  his  fame  rests 
mainly  upon  a  few  supremely  beautiful  pieces:  The  Rime 
of  the  Ancient  Mariner,  Christabel,  and  Kuhla  Khan;  to 
which  may  be  added  Dejection,  an  Ode,  Frost  at  Midnight, 
Ode  to  France,  and  Fears  in  Solitude.  It  is  noteworthy  that 
most  of  these  were  written  during  the  years  of  his  close 
association  with  Wordsworth,  yet  they  differ  essentially 
from  Wordsworth's  manner.  In  The  Rime  of  the  Ancient 
Mariner  we  have  the  most  wonderful  of  all  supernatural 
ballads  —  a  stirring,  imaginative  story,  marvelously  told. 
Coleridge  developed  all  the  graces  of  the  old  ballad  meter 
for  this  weird  tale  of  sin  and  retribution.  Like  the  Wedding- 
guest  of  the  ballad,  we  are  fascinated  by  the  venerable 
man  as  he  relates  the  story  of  his  voyage  across  the  line  and 
into  the  polar  seas;  we  tremble  at  his  wanton  killing  of  the 
albatross  and  shudder  at  the  evidences  of  the  Great  Spirit's 


THE  ROMANTIC  PERIOD 


displeasure.  The  description  of  the  phantom  ship  with  its 
ghastly  crew  is  hardly  more  effective  as  a  piece  of  poetic 
imagery  than  the  account  of  the  curse  imposed  upon  the 
guilty  mariner.  When  the  spell  is  broken  and  we  learn  the 
story  of  the  return  voyage,  the  poem  rises  to  great  heights. 
The  cHmax  at  the  sinking  of  the  ship  is  most  dramatic.  All 
is  narrated  with  unmatched  skill  and  with  unforgettable 


Drawing  by  Noel  Paton 


The  Ancient  Mariner 


phrasing.    As  we  leave  the  ancient  mariner  we  take  into  our 
hearts  the  lesson  of  his  last  words  to  the  Wedding-guest: 

He  prayeth  best,  who  loveth  best 
All  things  both  great  and  small; 
For  the  dear  God  who  loveth  us. 
He  made  and  loveth  all. 

ChristabeU  a  lovely  fragment  of  a  medieval  tale,  is  steeped 
in  the  faerie  atmosphere  of  another  world.     In  its  strange* 


SAMUEL  TAYLOR  COLERIDGE  285 

irregular  cadences  Coleridge  represents  the  eternal  struggle 
between  the  forces  of  good  and  evil  as  personified  in  the 
innocent  Christabel  and  in  the  mysterious  snake-woman 
Geraldine.  The  story  becomes  somewhat  incoherent  in 
the  second  part,  and  Coleridge  despaired  of  bringing  it  to  a 
satisfactory  conclusion.  Kuhla  Khan  is  a  more  mystical 
fragment,  especially  significant  for  its  Oriental  imagery  and 
haunting  sound-effects.  Note  the  strange  musical  quality 
of  these  lines : 

Weave  a  circle  round  him  thrice. 
And  close  your  eyes  with  holy  dread. 
For  he  on  honey-dew  hath  fed, 
And  drunk  the  milk  of  Paradise. 

Such  poetry  should  be  felt  rather  than  understood.  Coleridge 
declared  he  had  composed  over  two  himdred  lines  of  this 
poem  while  he  was  in  a  kind  of  dream-trance.  On  awaken- 
ing he  snatched  paper  and  pen  to  put  it  down,  but  he  was 
disturbed  by  a  caller  after  he  had  written  the  fifty-four  lines 
that  survive;  after  the  departure  of  the  visitor  he  could  not 
remember  the  rest  of  the  poem. 

In  his  fondness  for  the  weird,  the  supernatural,  and  for 
unusual  romantic  themes,  Coleridge  differed  essentially  from 
his  friend  Wordsworth.  Coleridge's  treatment  of  nature  was 
less  philosophic,  but  more  picturesque.  Throughout  his 
nature  poetry  there  are  flashes  of  imagery  that  are  supreme 
in  their  kind.  His  poetic  genius  was  as  great  as  that  of  any 
writer  of  his  age,  but  he  squandered  his  talents  in  trifles 
and  fragments.  One  admirer  said  that  Coleridge's  really 
excellent  poetry  might  be  bound  up  in  twenty  pages  —  but 
it  should  be  bound  in  pure  gold. 

As  a  critic,  Coleridge  ranks  in  the  very  first  class,  es- 
pecially in  his  interpretation  of  Shakespeare.  In  his  lectures 
on  Shakespeare  he  gave  utterance  to  the  most  illuminating 
commentary  on  the  intellectual  and  spiritual  significance  of 


286  THE  ROMANTIC   PERIOD 

the  great  plays.  He  also  did  a  great  deal  to  arouse  England's 
appreciation  for  the  genius  of  Wordsworth.  In  the  field  of 
journalism  he  wrote  much  that  is  completely  disregarded 
nowadays.  For  many  years  he  contributed  leading  articles 
to  the  London  newspapers.  The  best  of  these  were  collected 
by  his  daughter  Sara  Coleridge  and  published  in  three 
volumes  as  Essays  on  His  Own  Times  (1850).  As  a  philoso- 
pher, Coleridge  had  a  wide  range  of  interests.  He  not  only 
made  the  idealistic  German  philosophy  familiar  to  English 
readers,  but  was  himself  an  acute,  original  thinker.  It  was 
his  great  ambition  to  formulate  a  system  of  thought  that 
would  embrace  all  human  knowledge,  but  he  never  carried 
out  his  plan. 

Coleridge  is  especially  notable  for  the  stimulating  influence 
of  his  work  on  his  contemporaries  and  on  later  writers.  Lack 
of  will-power  resulted  in  his  leaving  many  important  projects 
unfinished  or  hardly  begun.  The  state  of  indolence  brought 
on  by  indulgence  in  opium  was  largely  responsible  for  the 
fragmentary  character  of  much  of  his  work.  His  casual  hints 
in  his  lectures,  his  letters,  and  his  table-talk  were  the  stepping 
stones  whereby  others  rose  to  great  heights.  In  spite  of  his 
failure  to  make  the  most  of  his  remarkable  gifts,  Coleridge 
accomplished  more  than  enough  to  assure  his  position  as 
a  great  poet  and  as  one  of  the  most  influential  thinkers  of 
his  age. 

11.  Robert  Southey  (1774-1843).  The  caustic  critics  of 
The  Edinburgh  Review,  in  their  effort  to  ridicule  the  work  of 
Wordsworth,  Coleridge,  and  Southey,  referred  to  them 
contemptuously  as  the  "Lake  Poets"  because  the  families  of 
all  three  poets  were  living  for  a  time  in  the  charming  Lake 
District  of  northwestern  England.  The  term  is  not  a  happy 
one,  and  it  is  likely  to  be  misleading  if  it  gives  the  impression 
that  there  was  any  general  similarity  in  the  work  of  the 
three  men  who  constituted  the  "Lake  School.'*  Southey 
was  the  least  important  member  of  the  trio,  and  his  work 


ROBERT   SOUTHEY 


587 


is  generally  neglected  to-day.  He  was  born  at  Bristol  in  1774, 
and  was  educated  at  Westminster  School  and  at  Balliol 
College,  Oxford.  After  1803  he  lived  in  the  Lake  District, 
where  for  a  time  he  nobly  supported  Coleridge's  family  as 
well  as  his  own.  In  addition  to  many  shorter  poems,  he 
wrote  a  series  of  huge  epics,  such  as  Thalaba  the  Destroyer 
(1801),  Madoc  (1805),  The  Curse  of  Kehama  (1810),  and 
Roderick  (1814).  Of  these  arid  stretches  of  verse  Byron 
said,  "They  will  be  read  when  Homer  and  Virgil  are  for- 
gotten —  but  not  till  then."  Although  Southey  became 
Poet  Laureate  in  1813  and  held  the 
post  until  his  death  in  1843,  he  did 
not  produce  much  poetry  during 
that  period.  He  had  virtually  writ- 
ten himself  out;  literature  was  a 
mere  trade  for  him.  His  complete 
works  would  fill  over  a  hundred 
volumes.  For  The  Quarterly  Review 
alone  he  wrote  a  hundred  and  fifty 
long  articles.  He  also  wrote  a  His- 
tory of  Brazil  and  biographies  of 
Wesley  and  Cowper.  Amid  the 
great  mass  of  his  prose  work  there 
is  only  one  rather  brief  biography 
that  has  become  a  classic  —  his  Life  of  Nelson  (1813). 
This  was  expanded  from  one  of  his  articles  and  is 
a  notable  specimen  of  direct,  entertaining  narrative.  It 
presents  a  most  intimate  picture  of  the  great  naval  hero 
and  tells  in  an  almost  perfect  style  with  all  the  glamor  of 
romance  the  story  of  the  beloved  admiral's  career.  Even 
Byron,  who  rarely  had  anything  good  to  say  of  Southey, 
expressed  his  admiration  for  this  ideal  biography.  No  one 
since  Southey  has  succeeded  in  writing  a  better  account  of 
Nelson's  stirring  exploits.  Among  Southey 's  short  poems 
the  only  ones  that  retain  any  popularity  are  The  Inchcape 


Robert  Southey 


288 


THE  romantic:  period 


Rock,  The  Battle  of  Blenheim,  and  the  little  poem  descriptive 
of  his  library,  beginning 

My  days  among  the  dead  are  passed. 

Southey  should  always  be  remembered  with  respect  for  his 
scholarship  and  patient  industry,  as  well  as  for  his  cheerful 
acceptance  of  the  responsibilities  thrust  upon  him  by  his 
brilliant  but  erratic  brother-in-law  Coleridge. 

SIR   WALTER   SCOTT   (1771-1832) 

12.  A  Romantic  Youth.    Walter  Scott  was  born  in  Edin- 
burgh in  1771  and  was  the  ninth  of  the  twelve  children  of  a 

Scotch  solicitor.  In 
view  of  Walter's  lame- 
ness and  delicate  health 
in  childhood,  he  was 
permitted  to  follow  his 
own  bent  on  his  grand- 
father's farm,  where  he 
developed  a  great  love 
for  outdoor  life,  and 
heard  many  popular 
ballads  and  tales  of  ad- 
venture. On  one  occa- 
sion he  declaimed  the 
old  ballad  of  Hardi- 
Canute  so  vociferously 
that  the  parish  clergy- 
man who  was  convers- 
ing nearby  said  he 
might  as  well  speak  in 
Sir  Walter  Scott  the  cannon's  mouth  as 

where  that  child  was. 
After  attendmg  the  Edinburgh  High  School  he  proceeded  to 
the  University.    Although  he  served  for  a  time  in  his  father's 


SIR  WALTER  SCOTT 


289 


office  and  later  practiced  law  on  his  own  account,  he  was 
always  more  warmly  concerned  with  literature.  In  1797 
he  married  Charlotte  Carpenter,  a  young  lady  of  French 
descent,  who  enjoyed  an  income  of  £500.  Two  years  later 
he  was  appointed  Sheriff  of  Selkirkshire,  which  office  carried 
a  stipend  of  £300  in  payment  for  nominal  duties.  Thus  he 
became  free  to  devote  himself  more  completely  to  a  literary 
career.  His  first  important  undertaking  was  a  collection 
of  legendary  ballads  and  songs  entitled  Minstrelsy  of  the 
Scottish  Border  (1802),  which  was  inspired  by  his  early 
devotion  to  Percy's  Ballads.  Next  he  produced  a  remarkable 
series  of  narrative  poems  that  became  very  popular:  The 
Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel  (1805),  Marmion  (1808),  The  Lady 
of  the  Lake  (1810),  Don  Roderick  (1811),  and  Rokeby  (1812). 
These  are  among  our  finest  specimens  of  romantic  tales  told 
in  verse.  They  were  less  significant  than  the  poetry  of 
Wordsworth  and  Coleridge,  but  they  sold  in  enormous 
editions  and  did  much 
to  cultivate  a  popular 
taste  for  romantic 
poetry  of  the  better 
sort.  Marmion  is  a 
spirited  story  of  Scot- 
land in  the  picturesque 
days  of  Flodden  Field; 
its  succession  of  roman- 
tic adventures  culmi-  Loch  Katrine 
nates  with  a  fine  des- 
cription of  that  battle.  Lochinvar^s  Ride  is  the  best 
known  of  its  lyrical  interludes.  The  Lady  of  the  Lake  was 
even  more  popular  than  Marmion.  It  unfolds  an  idyllic 
love-story  in  the  days  when  Scottish  kings  mingled  incognito 
with  their  subjects.  The  scene  is  chiefly  laid  in  the  lovely 
country  about  Loch  Katrine  in  the  Western  Highlands. 
Some  of  Scott's  best  songs,  as  well  as  the  notable  ballad  of 


290 


THE  ROMANTIC  PERIOD 


Alice  Brandy  are  to  be  found  in  its  pages.  Marmion  and 
The  Lady  of  the  Lake  are  still  widely  read  and  considered 
most  desirable  to  cultivate  in  young  readers  a  genuine  love 
for  poetic  literature.  After  the  success  of  his  first  poem 
Scott  became  secretly  interested  in  the  printing  business  of 
James  Ballantyne  in  Edinburgh,  and  shared  in  the  profits 
that  came  to  that  firm  through  the  popularity  of  his  poetry. 
In  1812  he  bought  a  modest  property  of  one  hundred  acres 
at  Abbotsford  on  the  Tweed,  and  by  later  additions  de- 
veloped it  into  a  baronial  estate  of  a  thousand  acres.  He 
also  built  on  his  estate  the  imposing  mansion  in  which  he 
delighted  to  entertain  his  friends.  Several  less  important 
poems  that  followed  Rokehy  were  not  received  with  favor, 
and  Scott  himself  was  quite  conscious  of  their  inferiority. 
Moreover,  Lord  Byron  had  by  that  time  become  the  most 
popular  poet  In  England,  and  Scott  wisely  determined  not 
to  contest  Byron's  supremacy.     He  decided  henceforth  to 

devote  himself  to  prose 
fiction  and  took  up  the 
manuscript  of  a  novel 
which  he  had  begun  nine 
years  earlier  and  which 
he  had  accidentally 
found  while  searching 
for  some  fishing-tackle. 
13.  The  Waverley 
Novels.  In  1814  he 
published  anonymously 
the  novel  Waverley, 
Abbotsford  which   was   the   first   of 

the  great  series  of 
twenty-nine  novels  produced  during  the  remaining  eighteen 
years  of  his  life.  Few  writers  have  ventured  to  cover 
so  extensive  a  range  as  is  represented  in  the  wealth  of 
historical  fiction  that  came  from  his  busy  pen.     Waverley,' 


SIR  WALTER  SCOTT  291 

which  gave  its  name  to  the  entire  series,  is  a  spirited  story 
dealing  with  the  attempt  of  the  Pretender  to  recover  the 
EngUsh  throne  in  1745.  Guy  Mannering  (1815),  which 
followed,  is  one  of  our  best  pictures  of  Scottish  life.  It 
contains  the  remarkable  character  of  Meg  Merrilies,  the 
gypsy.  The  Antiquary  (1816)  is  a  fine  story  of  Scottish  life 
during  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Coleridge 
declared  it  had  one  of  the  best  plots  in  literature.  Old 
Mortality  (1816)  offers  a  memorable  picture  of  the  old  Scotch 
Covenanters  and  has  several  spirited  battle  scenes.  Rob 
Roy  (1817)  is  a  story  of  the  heroic  Scotch  outlaw.  The 
Heart  of  Midlothian  (1818)  is  a  pathetic  tale  dealing  with 
humble  persons  in  Scotland  during  the  eighteenth  century. 
It  gives  graphic  pictures  of  middle-class  and  low  life  in  old 
Edinburgh  and  has  an  effective  account  of  the  midnight 
assault  on  the  sinister  Tolbooth.  The  story  is  based  upon 
an  actual  instance  of  a  devoted  young  Scotch  woman  who 
walked  all  the  way  to  London  to  plead  for  her  sister's  life. 
The  heroine,  Jeanie  Deans,  is  the  finest  among  the  women 
that  figure  in  the  Waverley  Novels,  and  this  story  is  usually 
accepted  as  the  best  of  the  series.  In  his  next  work  Scott 
turned  abruptly  from  a  setting  in  his  native  land  and  pro- 
duced Ivanhoe  (1819),  perhaps  the  most  popular  of  all  his 
novels,  with  its  vivid  portrayal  of  the  period  of  Richard 
Coeur  de  Lion  and  of  the  clash  in  England  between  the 
Saxons  and  the  Normans. 

In  1820  the  "Wizard  of  the  North,"  as  Scott  had  come  to 
be  known  among  his  admirers,  had  the  honor  of  being  the 
first  to  be  knighted  by  the  new  King  George  IV.  During 
the  same  year  he  wrote  the  two  novels,  The  Monastery  and 
The  Abbot,  which«deal  with  the  ill-fated  Mary,  Queen  of 
Scots.  Kenilworth  (1821),  deservedly  one  of  the  most 
popular  of  the  Waverley  Novels,  relates  the  sad  story  of 
Amy  Robsart  and  the  jealous  intrigues  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 
The  Fortunes  of  Nigel  (1822)  gives  an  interesting  picture  of 


292 


THE  ROMANTIC  PERIOD 


the  reign  of  James  I  and  tells  a  story  in  which  that  queer 
monarch  plays  an  important  part.  Peveril  of  the  Peak 
(1823)  is  a  less  successful  tale,  depicting  life  during  the  reign 
of  Charles  II.  Quentin  Durward  (1824)  ranks  among  the 
very  best  of  the  novels  and  is  an  absorbing  story  of  the 
times  of  Louis  XI  in  France,  with  the  sinister  figure  of 

Tristan  I'Ermite  as  an 
important  character  in 
the  action.  Red- 
gauntlet  (1824)  is  an- 
other fine  story  and 
deals  with  the  adven- 
tures of  the  Young 
Pretender  in  Scotland. 
The  Talisman  (1825),  a 
story  of  the  Crusades, 
is  especially  popular 
among  Scott's  younger 
readers. 

14.  A  Turn  in  For- 
tune. During  the  period 
1820-1825  Scott  en- 
joyed the  rewards  of 
literary  fame  and  of 
material  prosperity  to 
the  utmost.  He  was, 
though  anonymously, 
the  most  popular 
noveHst  of  the  day,  and  the  pubHc  was  ever  expectant 
for  a  new  book  by  "the  author  of  Waverley.''  In  his 
palatial  home  at  Abbotsford,  Sir  Walter  was  a  gracious 
host  to  his  many  distinguished  visitors.  Then,  in  1826, 
there  came  a  sharp  turn  in  his  fortunes.  The  pubhshing 
firm  in  which  he  was  interested  failed  and  Scott  found 
himself  financially  ruined.    Instead  of  pleading  bankruptcy. 


Painting  by  Yeames 

The  Death  of  Amy  Robsart 


SIR  WALTER  SCOTT  293 

as  many  a  man  would  have  done  to  shift  part  of  his  burden, 
he  assumed,  at  the  age  of  fifty-five,  the  full  amount  of  the 
debt  amounting  to  £117,000.  From  that  day  until  his 
death  he  worked  heroically  and  incessantly  at  new  Uterary 
undertakings  to  pay  off  his  creditors.  An  almost  incredible 
succession  of  books  came  rapidly  from  his  pen.  Woodstock 
(1826),  the  last  of  his  important  novels,  had  been  started 
before  the  financial  crash.  It  deals  with  the  closing  days 
of  the  Protectorate  and  the  Restoration  of  Charles  II. 
Within  two  years  Scott  had  earned  nearly  £40,000.  A 
Life  of  Napoleon  (1827)  in  nine  volumes  alone  brought 
him  £18,000.  His  later  novels,  including  The  Fair  Maid 
of  Perth  (1828),  Anne  of  Geier stein  (1829),  Count  Robert  of 
Paris  (1831),  and  Castle  Dangerous  (1831),  reveal  the  weari- 
ness of  an  overworked  mind,  but  are  noteworthy  monuments 
to  an  honorable  man.  Under  the  stress  of  the  great  exertion 
Scott  suffered  a  paralytic  stroke  in  1830  from  which  he  never 
fully  recovered.  He  once  more  took  up  residence  at  Abbots- 
ford,  but  as  a  broken  man.  His  friends  persuaded  him  to 
give  up  writing  for  a  time  and  to  take  a  trip  to  the  Mediter- 
ranean in  the  hope  that  his  health  might  thus  be  restored. 
The  British  Admiralty  furnished  one  of  its  warships  to  convey 
Sir  Walter  to  Malta  and  then  to  Naples.  Conscious  of  the 
fact  that  his  financial  obligations  were  not  yet  fully  dis- 
charged, he  grew  restless,  and  in  1832  made  a  hurried  return 
to  Abbotsford,  where  he  died  a  few  months  later.  He  was 
laid  to  rest  in  the  romantic  ruins  of  Dryburgh  Abbey.  The 
balance  of  his  debt  was  finally  paid  off  in  1847  by  the  income 
resulting  from  the  sale  of  his  works. 

15.  Character  of  Scott.  In  many  respects  the  career  of 
Sir  Walter  Scott  typified  all  that  was  best  in  the  conception 
of  the  old-school  English  gentleman.  He  once  said,  "I  am 
unconscious  of  ever  having  done  any  man  an  injury  or 
omitted  any  fair  opportunity  of  doing  any  man  a  benefit." 
His  biography  written  (1838)  by  his  son-in-law,  John  Gib- 


@94 


THE  ROMANTIC  PERIOD 


son  Lockhart,  is  a  masterly  book  of  its  kind,  second  only  to 
Boswell's  Johnson  in  merit  and  interest.  Scott's  contribu- 
tion to  English  fiction  is  most  important.  He  wrote  with  the 
skilled  confidence  of  one  who  has  found  the  proper  medium 
for  expression.  He  not  only  created  the  historical  novel, 
as  we  know  it,  but  definitely  estabhshed  the  novel  as  the 
leading  literary  form.     Since  his  day  its  supremacy  has 

never  been  challenged. 
Few  writers  have  ap- 
proached him  in  sheer 
narrative  skill,  although 
it  must  be  admitted 
that  at  times  he  wrote 
carelessly  and  that  most 
of  his  characters,  though 
described  with  a  wealth 
of  detail,  are  rather 
superficial.  Scott  did 
not  possess  the  patience 
nor  perhaps  the  talent  to 
draw  them  with  the 
insight  that  certain  later 
novelists  display.  He 
cared  little  for  love- 
stories;  The  Bride  of 
Lammermoor  is  his  only 
novel  of  that  sort.  The  rest  are  tales  of  adventure,  replete 
with  incident  and  action.  He  was  especially  successful  in  his 
graphic  presentation  of  historical  characters,  many  of  whom 
live  in  our  memories  because  of  his  vivid  delineations,  not  be- 
cause of  any  descriptions  by  formal  historians.  Moreover, 
EngUsh  fiction  is  under  lasting  obligation  to  Scott  for  estab- 
lishing such  a  high  moral  tone  in  his  work.  Most  of  our 
earlier  novehsts  reflected  the  coarseness  of  life  in  their  pages; 
in  Scott  the  narrative  throughout  is  clean  and  inspiring. 


Dryburgh  Abbey 


JANE  AUSTEN 


2^5 


JANE   AUSTEN    (1775-1817) 

16.  A  Quaint  Realist.  There  is  not  in  English  Hterature 
another  Ufe  quite  as  uneventful  as  that  of  Jane  Austen. 
She  was  born  at  Steventon,  Hampshire,  in  1775,  as  the 
seventh  of  the  eight  children  of  the  Reverend  George  Austen. 
Her  only  education  was  the  private  training  that  would  be 
accorded  in  the  home  circle  to  a  clergyman's  daughter  in 
her  day.  Her  life  was  that 
of  a  middle-class  girl  who 
had  to  look  after  the  usual 
household  affairs.  The 
novels  that  we  value  so 
highly  to-day  were  under- 
taken to  beguile  the  tedium 
of  the  domestic  duties  that 
fell  to  her  lot.  Pride  and 
Prejudice^  which  is  regarded 
as  her  best  work,  was  writ- 
ten when  she  was  twenty- 
two,  but  was  not  published 
until  1813.  It  is  admired 
as  much  for  its  witty 
dehneation  of  such  charac- 
ters as  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ben- 
nett,   Lady    Catherine    de 

Bourgh,  and  Mr.  Collins  as  for  the  tangled  love-affairs 
of  Elizabeth  Bennett  and  her  proud  Darcy.  As  a  picture 
of  provincial  life  in  days  when  aristocratic  lineage  was  more 
highly  esteemed  than  now.  Pride  and  Prejudice  is  an  in- 
valuable contribution  to  literary  art.  Sense  and  Sensibility 
was  written  in  1797-1798  and  appeared  in  1809.  The  family 
moved  to  Bath  in  1801,  but  after  the  death  of  her  father 
four  years  later  they  returned  to  Southampton.  Mansfield 
ParA;  (1814)  and  Emma  (1816)  were  more  elaborate  stories 


Jane  Austen 


296 


THE  ROMANTIC  PERIOD 


and  are  less  generally  read,  although  the  warmest  admirers 
of  Jane  Austen  regard  enthusiasm  for  Emma  as  the  touch- 
stone of  their  cult.  All  the  novels  were  published  anony- 
mously and  Miss  Austen  never  acknowledged  her  authorship 
of  them.  An  appreciative  notice  of  Emma  in  The  Quarterly 
Review  was  really  the  beginning  of  her  fame.  She  died  in 
1817  after  a  lingering  illness  and  was  buried  in  Winchester 
Cathedral.  Two  other  novels,  Northanger  Abbey  and 
Persuasion^  were  published  after  her  death.  They  show  the 
same  simplicity  of  plot  and  treatment  as  her  early  works. 
Northanger   Abbey  is   especially   interesting  for  its  gentle 

burlesque  of  the  manner 
of  Mrs.  Radcliffe  and 
other  purveyors  of  "tales 
of  terror."  Persuasion 
was  her  last  work  and 
was  written  during  her 
final  illness. 

Unhke  the  romantic 
novelists  who  drew  freely 
upon  their  imagination 
for  the  turbulent  scenes 
and  exciting  adventures 
depicted  in  their  novels, 
Jane  Austen  wisely 
chose  the  quiet,  middle- 
class  domestic  life  of  the-  Hampshire  villages  with  which 
she  was  most  familiar.  Her  characters  disclose  their  natures 
in  what  appears  to  be  the  most  casual,  everyday  sort  of 
conversation,  yet  frequently  there  is  a  neat  bit  of  irony  or 
satire  which  the  author  permits  the  reader  to  note  for  him- 
self. Those  who  are  carried  away  by  the  dash  and  brilliancy 
of  Scott's  romances  and  then  turn  to  Jane  Austen's  serene 
pictures  of  English  provincial  life  must  be  careful  not  to 
underestimate  her  worth.    Within  her  own  narrow  range  she 


Winchester  Cathedral 


CHARLES  LAMB 


207 


is  supreme.  Scott  himself  spoke  with  frank  enthusiasm  of 
her  "exquisite  touch  which  renders  commonplace  things  and 
characters  interesting/*  and  admitted  with  equal  frankness 
that  he  lacked  that  fine  gift.  He  knew  that  her  intimate, 
sympathetic  character-studies  of  her  age  would  ultimately 
be  more  highly  esteemed  than  many  of  his  own  hastily 
sketched  personages.  The  better  sort  of  novehst  to-day  is 
more  eager  to  achieve  the  realistic  art  of  Jane  Austen  than 
the  romantic  art  of  Scott. 


CHARLES   LAMB    (1775-1834) 

17.  A  Tragic  Background.  In  London,  between  Fleet 
Street  and  the  Thames,  there  is  an  irregular  group  of  build- 
ings called  the  Temple, 
marking  the  site  of  the  lodge 
of  the  crusading  Knights 
Templars,  but  now  the 
abode  of  barristers  and  law 
students.  Within  its  pre- 
cincts Oliver  Goldsmith  was 
laid  to  rest  in  1774.  I^ss 
than  a  year  later  Charles 
Lamb,  the  son  of  a  lawyer's 
servant,  was  born  in  one  of 
its  humble  back  rooms. 
Throughout  his  life  he  was 
a  city  man  who  loved  Lon- 
don and  delighted  to  sing 
the  praises  of  its  streets, 
its   shops,    and  its  historic 

nooks.  At  the  age  of  nine  he  was  sent  to  Christ's  Hospital, 
where  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Coleridge  and  began  a 
friendship  that  lasted  throughout  life.  He  left  the  school  at 
fourteen  and  entered  the  service  of  the  South  Sea  House. 


Charles  Lamb 


298  THE  ROMANTIC   PERIOD 

Three  years  later  he  became  a  clerk  for  the  East  India 
Company  and  remained  in  their  employ  for  thirty-three 
years.  A  terrible  domestic  tragedy  clouded  his  life.  In 
1796,  his  sister  Mary,  dm-ing  a  fit  of  temporary  insanity, 
stabbed  their  mother  to  death.  Lamb  undertook  to  become 
his  afflicted  sister's  guardian  and  cared  for  her  during  the 
rest  of  his  days. 

His  first  Hterary  efforts  were  rather  incidental  and  re- 
flected no  intention  to  strive  for  serious  recognition  as  a 
writer.  He  contributed  a  few  poems  to  the  volumes  published 
by  Coleridge  in  1796  and  1797,  and  also  wrote  an  unsuccessful 
tragedy,  John  Woodvil  (1802),  in  the  Elizabethan  manner. 
His  farce,  Mr.  H.,  was  produced  at  Drury  Lane  in  1805, 
but  was  condemned  on  the  opening  night.  The  audience 
hissed  it  roundly;  so  did  Lamb.  His  first  real  success  was 
achieved  in  1807,  when  he  brought  out  his  Tales  from  Shake- 
spearey  written  in  collaboration  with  his  sister  Mary.  No 
one  else  has  ever  related  the  stories  of  Shakespeare's  great 
plays  more  skilfully.  Lamb's  Tales,  as  the  book  is  usually 
called,  remains  to  this  day  one  of  the  most  popular  of 
books. 

18.  Later  Works.  A  more  ambitious  undertaking  was 
his  Specimens  of  Dramatic  Poets  Contemporary  with  Shake- 
speare (1808),  in  which  he  revealed  his  excellent  literary 
taste  and  produced  an  anthology  that  is  still  valued  by  those 
who  have  not  the  time  to  read  the  Elizabethan  drama 
extensively.  His  comments  accompanying  the  specimens 
helped  to  reawaken  interest  in  the  old  playwrights.  The 
prose  writers  of  the  seventeenth  century  were  also  very 
dear  to  him;  many  characteristics  of  their  style  are  evident 
in  his  own  quaint  prose.  In  1820  Lamb  began  to  contribute 
to  The  London  Magazine  a  series  of  essays,  which  he  signed 
"EHa,"  on  such  familiar  topics  as  whist-playing,  beggars, 
bachelors,  old  china,  poor  relations,  ears,  gallantry,  and 
All  Fools'  Day.    Among  the  best  of  these  delightful  essays 


CHARLES  LAMB  299 

were  those  entitled  The  Praise  of  Chimney  Sweepers,  The 
Two  Races  of  Men,  Detached  Thoughts  on  Books  and  Reading, 
the  lovely  Dream  Children:  a  Reverie,  and,  most  famous  of 
all,  A  Dissertation  upon  Roast  Pig.  These  intimate  papers 
possess  that  indefinable  quality  called  charm;  they  are 
personal,  chatty,  humorous,  tender,  pathetic  —  all  by  turns 
as  the  subject  developed.  He  drew  tender  pictures  of  dusky 
young  sweeps  sniffing  the  sweet  odors  ascending  from  bowls 
of  sassafras  tea;  with  merry  humor  he  solemnly  classified 
all  mankind  into  those  who  borrow  and  those  who  lend, 
laying  special  stress  on  the  borrowing  and  lending  of  books; 
he  gossiped  lovingly  of  the  joys  that  come  to  the  bibliophile; 
in  Dream  Children  he  gave  us  half -shy  yet  intimate  remi- 
niscences of  his  childhood,  and  more  than  a  hint  of  his  own 
blighted  romance.  For  the  admirer  of  Lamb  this  last- 
mentioned  essay  has  more  significance  than  the  famifiar 
Dissertation,  in  which  he  expounded  the  novel  Chinese 
theory  concerning  the  origin  of  roast  pork.  The  Essays  of 
Elia  were  published  in  book  form  in  1825,  and  a  later  series 
known  as  Last  Essays  of  Elia  appeared  in  1833.  In  their 
collected  form  they  now  constitute  Lamb's  most  important 
literary  work.  He  retired  in  1825  from  his  service  with 
the  East  India  Company  and  was  able  to  five  comfortably 
on  the  pension  he  received.  His  dechning  years  were  spent 
in  pleasant  association  with  his  literary  companions.  Several 
of  them  wrote  interesting  descriptions  of  his  small,  frail 
figure  standing  on  still  frailer  legs  and  surmounted  by  an 
earnest,  wrinkled  countenance  with  flashing  eyes.  They 
recorded  how  he  stammered  his  sly  jests  and  won  his  way 
into  their  hearts  by  his  quaint  humor.  He  related  some  of 
his  later  experiences  in  his  essay.  The  Superannuated  Man. 
The  death  of  his  life-long  friend  Coleridge  in  July,  1834, 
affected  him  so  deeply  that  he  could  not  attend  the  funeral. 
Lamb  himself  died  before  the  end  of  that  year  and  was 
buried  in  Edmonton  Churchyard. 


300  THE  ROMANTIC  PERIOD 

19.  A  Lover  of  Humanity.  Much  of  Lamb's  fine  person- 
ality is  manifested  in  the  extensive  correspondence  which 
ranks  him  among  the  best  of  EngUsh  letter- writers.  We 
would  all  know  more  of  a  man  who  will  write:  "The  greatest 
pleasure  I  know  is  to  do  a  good  turn  by  stealth  and  have  it 
found  out  by  accident,"  or  who  will  describe  himself  as 
"a  gentleman  at  large  .  .  .  below  middle  stature  .  .  . 
stammers  abominably  ...  a  small  eater,  but  not  a  drinker 
.  .  .  was  a  fierce  smoker  of  tobacco;  but  may  be  resembled 
to  a  volcano  'burnt  out,  emitting  only  now  and  then  an 
occasional  puff.'* 

Among  English  writers  are  some,  like  Shakespeare  and 
Milton,  who  are  worshiped  for  their  genius;  others,  like 
Bacon  and  Johnson,  who  are  respected  for  their  learning; 
and  others,  Hke  Addison  and  Pope,  who  are  admired  for 
their  talents;  but  there  is  still  a  fourth  class  —  those  who 
are  loved  for  their  essential  humanity.  To  this  group  belong 
such  rare  souls  as  Bums,  Lamb,  and  Stevenson,  of  whom 
we  treasure  every  letter,  every  memorial,  every  scrap  of 
information  that  will  bring  them  closer  to  us. 

20.  Walter  Savage  Lander  (1775-1864)  was  a  Warwick- 
shire man,  born  in  the  same  year  as  Lamb,  but  unlike  the 
gentle  Elia,  he  had  an  unusually  long  and  tempestuous 
career.  After  receiving  his  early  training  at  Rugby,  he  was 
sent  to  Trinity  CoUege,  Oxford,  but  was  rusticated  a  year 
later  for  firing  a  shot-gun  at  the  shutters  of  a  room  nearby, 
where  a  party  of  noisy  roisterers  were  disturbing  him.  His 
fantastic  poem,  Gebir  (1798),  although  it  contains  many 
beautiful  passages,  was  unsuccessful.  He  is  known  mainly 
for  his  Imaginary  Conversations  (1824-1829),  in  which  noted 
historical  persons  in  all  ages  of  the  world's  history  are 
represented  in  dialogue  or  as  talking  in  groups.  Much 
erudition  and  literary  skill  were  devoted  to  the  work,  but  it 
is  no  longer  widely  read.  His  Pericles  and  Astasia  (18S6) 
is  a  series  of  imaginary  letters  between  these  two  characters 


WILLIAM   HAZLITT  301 

and  offers  a  vivid  picture  of  the  Golden  Age  of  Athens. 
Throughout  his  life  Landor  was  quarreling  with  his  associates, 
his  neighbors,  and  his  own  family.  He  once  threw  a  cook 
out  of  the  window,  but  regretted  the  action  because  the 
unfortunate  man  landed  on  a  bed  of  favorite  flowers. 
Dickens  used  Landor  as  the  original  for  the  character  of 
Boythorn  in  Bleak  House.  Landor  was  much  of  a  wanderer 
during  his  long  career,  but  he  spent  many  years  in  Italy 
and  died  in  Florence. 

It  is  one  of  the  ironies  of  literature  that  this  learned  writer 
is  mentioned  mainly  in  association  with  the  remarkable 
period  covered  by  the  eighty-nine  years  of  his  life.  He  was 
a  lad  of  nine  when  Dr.  Johnson  died,  yet  he  survived  to  see 
the  best  of  Swinburne's  early  work  and  might  have  read 
the  novels  of  Meredith.  When  Landor  died.  Sir  James  M. 
Barrie  was  four  years  old  and  Mr.  William  J.  Locke  was  an 
infant.  No  other  noteworthy  career  in  English  literature 
stretches  over  quite  so  remarkable  a  period  as  Landor's. 

21.  William  Hazlitt  (1778-1830)  was  a  leading  essayist 
and,  next  to  Coleridge,  the  most  important  literary  critic 
of  his  age.  He  was  born  in  Maidstone,  Kent,  and  spent 
part  of  his  boyhood  in  the  United  States.  His  earliest 
writings  were  philosophical  and  speculative  in  character, 
but  about  1814  he  began  to  contribute  to  The  Edinburgh 
Review  and  soon  won  recognition  for  his  literary  and  dramatic 
criticism.  In  1817  he  published  his  Charaxiters  of  Shake- 
speare's Plays  and  The  Round  Table,  the  latter  being  written 
in  collaboration  with  Leigh  Hunt.  He  delivered  important 
Lectures  on  the  English  Poets  (1818)  and  Lectures  on  the 
English  Comic  Writers  (1819)  which  were  afterwards  pub- 
lished. The  Spirit  of  the  Age,  which  contains  some  of  his 
best  criticism,  appeared  in  1825.  He  devoted  his  later  years 
to  a  comprehensive  Life  of  Napoleon  (1828-1830)  in  four 
volumes,  but  that  work,  like  Scott's  similar  venture,  has 
long  since  been  superseded. 


302  THE  ROMANTIC  PERIOD 

22.  Leigh  Hunt  (1784-1859)  was  educated  at  Christ's 
Hospital  and  became  a  journaKst.  He  edited  The  Examiner 
(1808)  and  The  Reflector  (1810).  In  1813  he  was  sentenced 
to  two  years*  imprisonment  for  Hbeling  the  Prince  Regent 
as  "a  fat  Adonis  of  fifty.'*  Literary  men  sympathized  with 
him  as  a  victim  of  unjust  laws.  Byron,  Lamb,  and  others 
visited  him  in  prison.  He  continued  to  edit  The  Examiner 
from  his  cell.  After  his  release  he  entertained  Shelley  at 
his  home  and  brought  about  the  first  meeting  between 
Shelley  and  Keats.  His  work  in  literature  and  journaHsm 
continued  with  unabated  vigor  throughout  his  long  life. 
His  ignorance  of  mathematics  (even  of  the  multiplication 
table)  was  so  notorious  that  Dickens  caricatured  him  as 
Skimpole  in  Bleak  House.  Virtually  all  of  his  many  books 
are  now  neglected,  but  Hunt  deserves  to  be  remembered  as 
the  man  who  did  much  to  encourage  Keats  and  other  humble 
writers,  and  who  wrote  the  poem  Abou  Ben  Adhem. 


THOMAS   DEQUINCEY    (1785-1859) 

23.  A  Restless  Scholar.  Thomas  DeQuincey  was  born 
in  Manchester  in  1785.  His  father  was  a  prosperous  merchant 
who  spent  much  of  his  time  abroad  for  his  health  and  who 
died  when  Thomas  was  seven.  DeQuincey  was  a  precocious 
child  of  strange  personality.  He  attended  school  at  Bath, 
where  he  surprised  his  teachers  by  his  progress.  At  the  age 
of  eleven  he  wrote  remarkable  Latin  verse,  and  at  fifteen 
he  was  so  proficient  in  Greek  that  a  professor  said  of  him: 
"That  boy  could  harangue  an  Athenian  mob  better  than 
you  or  I  could  address  an  English  one."  Later  he  was  sent 
to  the  Manchester  Grammar  School,  but  at  seventeen  he 
wandered  off  on  a  tramping  trip  through  Wales.  He  after- 
wards drifted  to  London,  where  he  led  an  aimless  life  and 
had  almost  starved  to  death  when  he  was  discovered  by  his 
family.     He  then  entered  Worcester  College,  Oxford,  but 


THOMAS  DEQUINCEY 


the  four  years  spent  there  were  not  very  profitable. 
DeQuincey  despised  his  teachers  and  left  the  University 
without  a  degree.  In  1808  he  settled  in  the  Lake  District 
and  occupied  Dove  Cottage  at  Grasmere  after  Wordsworth 
left  it  for  a  larger  home.  He  became  well  acquainted  with 
the  Lake  Poets  and  wrote  much  concerning  them  in  his 
Reminiscences y  which  are  at  times 
more  entertaining  than  accurate. 
Illness  brought  on  by  the  hard- 
ships and  exposure  of  his  life  in 
Wales  and  in  London  led  him  to 
indulgence  in  opium,  which  soon 
became  a  habit.  The  drug 
probably  stimulated  his  imagina- 
tive faculties  to  an  unusual  de- 
gree, but  it  also  impaired  his 
powers  of  application  and  of  con- 
centration. As  a  result  he  did  not 
write  a  single  book  during  the 
long  years  of  his  literary  life. 
His  ** works"  are  entirely  made  up  of  shorter  pieces — essays, 
sketches,  and  the  like. 

24.  An  Imaginative  Essayist.  The  loss  of  his  fortune 
compelled  DeQuincey  to  rely  upon  literature  for  a  livelihood. 
From  1821,  when  he  contributed  his  famous  Confessions  of 
an  English  Opium  Eater  to  The  London  Magazine^  to  the 
time  of  his  death  in  1859  he  wrote  a  total  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  articles  upon  the  greatest  variety  of  subjects  for 
the  leading  periodicals  of  the  day.  Among  the  best  is 
Murder  as  One  of  the  Fine  Arts  (1827),  a  startling  piece  of 
irony  that  reveals  DeQuincey 's  skill  in  choosing  titles  for 
his  essays.  There  is  much  grotesque  and  ghastly  humor  in 
his  learned  historical  summary  of  murder  from  the  days  of 
Cain.  In  1828  he  left  the  Lake  District  for  Edinburgh, 
where  he  lived  for  the  rest  of  his  life.     His  Revolt  of  the 


Thomas  DeQuincey 


304  THE   ROMANTIC   PERIOD 

Tartars  (1837),  also  known  as  The  Flight  cf  a  Tartar  Tribe, 
is  an  impressive  picture  of  a  great  Oriental  migration  on  the 
plateau  of  Asia.  Suspiria  de  Profundis  (1845)  revealed 
DeQuincey  at  his  best  as  an  artist  in  prose.  It  is  really  a 
supplement  to  the  Confessions.  Joan  of  Arc  (1847)  is  a 
poetic  interpretation  of  the  life  and  significance  of  the  French 
heroine.  The  English  Mail  Coach  (1849)  is  still  an  enter- 
taining account  of  certain  phases  of  old  English  life,  although 
the  advent  of  the  automobile  in  our  day  has  taken  the  edge 
off  DeQuincey's  thrilling  account  of  the  posthorses  galloping 
madly  along  at  a  speed  of  thirteen  miles  an  hour.  It  con- 
cludes in  a  Dream  Fugue:  The  Vision  of  Sudden  Death, 
which  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  prose  pieces  in  the 
language.  Few  poets  have  achieved  more  felicitous  effects 
in  verbal  music  than  are  found  in  the  drug-inspired 
phantasms  that  surged  through  the  brain  of  the  opium- 
eater.  His  Autobiographic  Sketches  (1853)  are  as  interesting 
for  what  they  tell  us  of  his  friends  as  of  himself. 

DeQuincey  ranks  as  the  first  of  our  imaginative  essayists 
writing  in  the  ornate,  rhetorical  style.  His  unusual  knowledge 
of  the  classics  gave  him  a  large  vocabulary  and  an  inclination 
to  use  learned,  sonorous  words  to  excess.  Much  of  his  grim 
humor  is  buried  beneath  an  avalanche  of  words.  His  fond- 
ness for  digression  is  another  fault  and  is  particularly  irri- 
tating to  the  logical-minded  reader.  At  his  best,  however, 
he  shows  an  unusual  command  of  rich  and  fluent  English, 
and  a  brilliancy  of  phrasing  that  entitles  him  to  high  rank 
among  the  masters  of  modern  English  prose. 

25.  The  Reviewers.  An  interesting  phase  in  the  develop- 
ment of  literature  is  the  growth  of  the  English  periodical, 
notably  the  great  critical  reviews.  A  number  of  less  im- 
portant publications  of  this  sort  were  started  in  the  eighteenth 
century.  The  Monthly  Review,  a  Whig  organ,  began  m  1749 
and  continued  until  1845.  During  its  earlier  years  it  pub- 
lished much  of  the  hack-writing  of  Johnson,  Goldsmith,  and 


LORD   BYRON  305 

other  notables.  The  Critical  Review  (1756-1817),  which  had 
a  shorter  and  less  auspicious  career,  espoused  the  Tory  cause 
and  was  edited  for  a  time  by  Smollett.  Among  the  minor 
papers  were  The  London  Review,  The  New  Review,  The 
English  Review,  and  The  British  Critic. 

The  first  important  advance  in  the  periodical  field  was  the 
establishment  of  The  Edinburgh  Review  in  1802  by  three 
young  Scotchmen,  Francis  Jeffrey,  Sidney  Smith,  and  Lord 
Brougham.  Their  policy  was  to  publish  a  large  quarterly 
issue  and  by  adequate  payment  for  articles  to  secure 
the  cooperation  of  the  best  writers.  During  its  early  career 
the  most  widely  discussed  articles  were  those  assailing  the 
poets  of  the  Lake  School,  and  Wordsworth  in  particular. 
The  political  affiliations  of  the  Edinburgh  were  Whig,  and 
the  review  proved  very  valuable  in  furthering  the  interests 
of  that  party.  Macaulay,  Carlyle,  and  John  Stuart  Mill 
contributed  some  of  their  best  essays  to  its  pages.  In  1809 
the  Tories  established  The  Quarterly  Review  in  London,  and 
conducted  it  along  lines  similar  to  the  Edinburgh  except  in 
politics.  The  Quarterly  likewise  achieved  a  reputation  for 
its  leading  articles,  but  its  attacks  on  Keats  and  Tennyson 
were  more  notorious  than  famous.  Among  its  best  con- 
tributors were  Scott,  Southey,  and  Lockhart.  Both  the 
Edinburgh  and  the  Quarterly  still  flourish  side  by  side  with 
many  other  reviews  and  literary  magazines  established  later. 


LORD   BYRON    (1788-1824) 

26.  A  Noble  Bard.  George  Gordon  Byron  was  born  in 
London  in  1788,  the  son  of  a  reckless  soldier  known  to  his 
associates  as  "Mad  Jack"  Byron,  who  fled  to  France  to 
escape  his  creditors  and  died  there  in  1791.  The  boy  was 
lame  from  birth,  and  in  later  years  became  very  sensitive 
because  of  this  deformity.  During  his  youth  he  lived  at 
Aberdeen  with  his  indulgent  mother  who  alternately  petted 


306 


THE  ROMANTIC  PERIOD 


and  reviled  him.  He  was  educated  in  private  schools  and 
in  the  Aberdeen  Grammar  School,  but  he  had  little  religious 
or  moral  training.  At  the  age  of  ten  he  succeeded  to  the 
title  of  Lord  Byron  on  the  death  of  his  grand-uncle  and  was 
taken  to  live  at  the  family  seat,  Newstead  Abbey.  He 
entered  Harrow  at  thirteen  and  spent  four  years  there, 
during  which  period  he  became  more  distinguished  as  a 
boxer  and  cricket  batsman  than  as  a  student.  He  fell  in 
love  at  fifteen,  proposed  to  a  charmer  much  older  than 

himself,  and  was  somewhat 
distressed  over  his  rejection. 
He  entered  Trinity  College, 
Cambridge,  in  1805,  where  he 
devoted  most  of  his  time  to  box- 
ing, swimming,  and  expressing 
contempt  for  his  teachers.  His 
first  literary  venture  was  a 
small  volume  of  Fugitive  Pieces 
published  privately  in  1806  and 
later  brought  out  publicly  with 
additions  as  Hours  of  Idleness 
(1807).  These  poems  were 
sharply  criticized  in  The  Edin- 
burgh Review,  whereupon  Byron 
retaliated  with  the  most  trench- 
ant poetical  satire  of  the  century,  English  Bards  and  Scotch 
Reviewers  (1809),  in  which,  with  Pope's  Dunciad  as  a  model, 
he  lampooned  not  only  his  critics,  but  Scott,  Wordsworth, 
and  contemporary  writers  in  general.  Shortly  after  attain- 
ing his  majority  in  1809  he  took  his  seat  in  the  House  of 
Lords  and  then  proceeded  on  an  extensive  tour  including 
Spain,  Turkey,  and  Greece.  During  this  trip  he  performed 
the  notable  feat  of  swimming  the  Hellespont. 

27.   Sudden  Fame.     On  his  return  to  England  after  an 
absence  of  two  years  he  pubhshed  the  first  and  second  cantos 


Lord  Byron 


LORD   BYRON  307 

of  Childe  Harold's  Pilgrimage  (1812).  This  poem  achieved 
a  fame  so  immediate  that  Byron  declared  he  awoke  one 
morning  and  found  himseK  famous.  He  adopted  the 
Spenserian  meter  for  this  popular  poem,  but  did  not  always 
use  that  measure  skilfully.  The  public,  however,  was  willing 
to  forget  the  shortcomings  of  the  meter  in  the  glowing  pages 
descriptive  of  the  Spanish  bull-fight,  the  Mediterranean,  the 
scenery  of  Albania,  and  the  past  splendors  of  Greece.  With 
prophetic  anticipation  of  the  part  he  was  destined  to  play 
in  the  affairs  of  Greece  he  called  for  a  leader  to  free  Hellas 
from  her  bondage : 

Fair  Greece!  sad  relic  of  departed  worth! 

Immortal,  though  no  more;  though  fallen,  great! 

Who  now  shall  lead  thy  scattered  children  forth, 

And  long  accustomed  bondage  uncreate? 

Not  such  thy  sons  who  whilome  did  wait. 

The  hopeless  warriors  of  a  willing  doom. 

In  bleak  Thermopylae's  sepulchral  strait  — 

Oh!  who  that  gallant  spirit  shall  resume. 

Leap  from  Eurotas'  banks,  and  call  thee  from  the  tomb? 

•For  three  years  thereafter  Byron  was  the  most  conspicuous 
figure  in  literary  London.  His  open  collar  and  flowing  tie 
were  copied  by  all  the  dandies  of  the  day;  every  one  craved 
the  acquaintance  of  the  handsome  poet  and  worshiped  at 
his  shrine.  W^ith  almost  incredible  speed  he  dashed  off  a 
series  of  Oriental  tales  in  verse,  written  in  the  style  that  had 
been  popularized  by  Scott.  Among  the  best  of  these  were 
The  Giaour  (1813),  The  Bride  of  Abydos  (1813),  The  Corsair 
(1814),  Lara  (1814),  The  Siege  of  Corinth  (1816),  and  Parisina 
(1816).  These  poems  were  bought  in  enormous  editions  by 
his  many  admirers  and  discussed  everywhere,  but  to-day 
they  are  generally  neglected  as  carelessly  written  narratives 
in  which  the  hero  is  almost  invariably  an  exaggerated  con- 
ception of  the  poet  himself.  The  widespread  adulation 
developed  the  worst  traits  of  Byron's  character  and  led  him 
to  assume  a  pose  of  proud  disdain  toward  those  about  him. 


308  THE   ROMANTIC   PERIOD 

In  1815  he  married  Anne  Isabelle  Milbanke,  but  they  sepa- 
rated a  year  later  and  Byron  left  England,  never  to  return. 
During  1816,  while  spending  the  summer  with  Shelley  at  Lake 
Geneva,  he  wrote  his  fine  poem  The  Prisoner  of  Chillon, 
which  is  one  of  the  most  popular  of  his  shorter  pieces.  In 
fluent  verse  he  told  the  story  of  one  who,  hke  the  historic 
Bonnivard,  was  imprisoned  for  many  years  in  the  dungeons 
of  this  famous  castle  built  on  a  small  island  in  Lake  Geneva: 


^■j 

I 

■ 

1^ 

H 

W^- 

i 

i 

|^^^H|9 

Sft 

1 

ij 

mp^^^^H 

The  Dungeon  of  Chillon 

There  are  seven  pillars  of  Gothic  mould. 
In  Chillon's  dungeons  deep  and  old, 
There  are  seven  columns  massy  and  gray. 
Dim  with  a  dull  imprisoned  ra}^ 
A  sunbeam  which  hath  lost  its  way. 
And  through  the  crevice  and  the  cleft 
Of  the  thick  wall  is  fallen  and  left: 
Creeping  o'er  the  floor  so  damp, 
Like  a  marsh's  meteor  lamp: 
And  in  each  pillar  there  is  a  ring. 

And  in  each  ring  there  is  a  chain; 
That  iron  is  a  cankering  thing, 

For  in  these  limbs  its  teeth  remain. 
With  marks  that  will  not  wear  away. 
Till  I  have  done  with  this  new  day. 


LORD   BYRON  309 

He  wandered  about  Belgium,  Germany,  Switzerland,  and 
Italy,  gathering  impressions  for  the  third  and  fourth  cantos 
of  Childe  Harold's  Pilgrimage,  which  were  pubUshed  in  1816 
and  1818.  In  these  concludmg  cantos,  which  are  considered 
the  best  part  of  the  poem,  are  the  notable  descriptions  of 
Waterloo,  the  Rhine,  Lake  Geneva,  and  the  imperishable 
memorials  of  Venice,  Florence,  and  Rome.  One  of  the 
most  famous  passages  in  the  poem  is  the  account  of  the 
Duchess  of  Richmond's  ball  in  Brussels  on  the  night  before 
Waterloo  and  the  interruption  of  the  merry-making: 

There  was  a  sound  of  revelry  by  night. 

And  Belgium's  capital  had  gathered  then 

Her  Beauty  and  her  Chivalry,  and  bright 

The  lamps  shone  o'er  fair  women  and  brave  men; 

A  thousand  hearts  beat  happily;  and  when 

Music  arose  with  its  voluptuous  swell. 

Soft  eyes  looked  love  to  eyes  which  spake  again, 

And  all  went  merry  as  a  marriage-bell; 

But  hush!  hark!  a  deep  sound  strikes  like  a  rising  knell!     , 

Did  ye  not  hear  it?  —  No;  'twas  but  the  wind. 

Or  the  car  rattling  o'er  the  stony  street; 

On  with  the  dance!  let  joy  be  unconfined; 

No  sleep  till  morn,  when  Youth  and  Pleasure  meet 

To  chase  the  glowing  hours  with  flying  feet  — 

But  hark!  —  that  heavy  sound  breaks  in  once  more 

As  if  the  clouds  its  echoes  would  repeat; 

And  nearer,  clearer,  deadlier  than  before! 

Arm!  Arm!  it  is  —  it  is  —  the  cannon's  opening  roar! 

28.  The  Last  Phase.  During  his  later  years  Byron  wrote 
a  number  of  poetic  dramas,  of  which  Manfred  (1817),  in- 
sphed  by  Goethe's  Faust,  shares  with  Cain  (1821),  the  honor 
of  being  most  important.  He  labored  for  several  years  at 
a  long  poem,  Don  Juan  (1819-1824),  which  is  in  many 
respects  his  best  work.  In  the  adventures  of  his  romantic 
hero,  Byron,  as  usual,  reproduced  some  of  his  own  experiences. 


310 


THE  ROMANTIC   PERIOD 


Scene  in  Venice 


It  is  a  satiric  flaunt  at  British  conventions  and  makes  clear 

how  keenly  he  felt  the  ostracism  that  was  inflicted  upon 

him  at  the  time  of  his  misunderstanding  with  Lady  Byron. 

The  poem  was  left  in- 
complete because  of  a 
patriotic  venture  that 
brought  Byron's  career 
to  an  early  and  tragic 
close.  In  1823  he 
espoused  the  cause  of 
the  Greeks  in  their 
struggle  for  indepen- 
dence against  the 
Turks.  He  sailed  for 
Greece  during  the  same 
summer  and  took  active 
part    in    the    uprising. 

Within  a  month  he  was  taken  ill  in  the  marshes  of  Missolonghi 

and  died  in  1824.     His  body  was  brought  to  England  and 

buried  at  Huclmall  Torkard,  not  far  from  Newstead  Abbey. 
29.  Significance  of 

B3rron.    A   survey  of  a 

collected     edition     of 

Byron's  poetry  will  show 

that  he  wrote  too  much 

to  write  well  at  all  times. 

He  was  in  such  haste  to 

get   on   with    his    work 

that  he  did  not  bother 

to  improve  faulty  rhymes 

or  rhythms.      There 

is   attractive  variety  in  his  work,  but,  as  in  the  case  of 

Wordsworth,  it  should  be  studied  in  judicious  selections. 

Byron  takes  rank  asthe  most  picturesque  and  romantic 

of   literary   rebels.   Tiewas   dissatisfied   with   the  estab- 


Newstead  Abbey 


PERCY  BYSSHE   SHELLEY  311 

lished  order  of  society  and  lived  his  life  to  suit  himself 
regardless  of  public  opinion.  In  fairness  to  Byron,  however, 
we  must  not  forget  his  tainted  ancestry  and  his  lack  of  proper 
training  in  childhood.  The  heroes  of  his  poenis_and  dramas 
are  usually  gloomy,  moody  variations  of  himself  at  odds 
with  thelvbrld,  defymg  not  only  the  social  conventions  and 
the  laws-ofmenTlSureven  Heaven  itself.  Although  Byron's 
works  created^a  profound  Tmpression^n  European  Hterature 
and  are  still  regarded  on  the  Continent  as  second  only  to 
Shakespeare's,  English  critics  from  the  first  regarded  his 
heroics  as  a  deliberate  pose.  His  narrative  verse  often 
attained  picturesque  effects  with  the  greatest  ease,  and  his 
vivid  descriptionsof  continental  scenery  did  much  to  stimu- 
late travel.  Healso  composed  some  beautiful  lyrics  that 
are  still  familiar  in  varied  musical  settings,  but  in  most  of 
his  work  there  is  a  manifest  lack  of  sincerity  that  detracts 
from  his  fame.  Only  in  a  few  of  his  shorter  pieces,  such  as 
The  Dream  and  Darkness,  do  we  feel  that  his  emotion  is 
genuine.  To  make  the  most  of  a  contemporary  fame  for 
rapid  and  brilliant  composition,  Byron  sacrificed  much  of 
the  reputation  that  he  might  have  won  by  a  more  careful 
exercise  of  his  unquestioned  talents. 

PERCY   BYSSHE   SHELLEY    (1792-1822) 

30.  A  Young  Visionary.  Shelley  was  born  at  Field  Place, 
near  Horsham,  Sussex,  in  1792.  He  came  of  a  wealthy, 
noble  family  and  was  a  grandson  of  Sir  Timothy  Shelley. 
While  a  school-boy  at  Eton  College  he  began  to  write  poetry. 
He  was  incensed  at  the  tyrannies  practiced  by  the  older  boys; 
they  retaliated  by  calling  him  "mad  Shelley."  In  his  eight- 
eenth year  he  published  a  slender  volume  called  Original 
Poetry  by  Victor  and  Cazire,  and  matriculated  at  University 
College,  Oxford.  He  had  been  at  Oxford  less  than  a  year 
when  he  was  expelled  for  publishing  an  anonymous  pamphlet 


312 


THE  ROMANTIC  PERIOD 


entitled  The  Necessity  of  Atheism.  He  went  to  London, 
where,  a  few  months  after  his  nineteenth  birthday,  he 
married  Harriet  Westbrook,  the  sixteen-year-old  daughter 
of  a  retired  coffee-house  keeper.  For  this  rash  proceeding 
he  was  disinherited  by  his  father  and  thereafter  was  at  odds 

with  his  family.     The  marriage 

proved  mihappy,  and    Shelley 

later  separated  from  his  wife. 

His  first  long  poem,  Queen  Mab, 

appeared    (1813)    in   a  private 

edition.    It  was  a  crude  attack 

on  religion,  society,  and  govern- 

m       ment.     Far    more    meritorious 

M       and  artistic  was  his  next  exten- 

^^J       sive  poem,  entitled  Alastor,  or 

^^H       the    Spirit   of  Solitude    (1816). 

^^^^m       ^/a^^or  typifies  the  lofty -minded 

J^^^H       poet's  search  for  his  ideal  —  the 

y^^^^^l       lovely  dream-maiden  who  seems 

'      ever   beyond   his   reach.      The 

Percy  Bysshe  Shelley  ^^^^^  abounds  in  typical  nature 

descriptions  of  the  finest  sort  of  which  we  get  a  specimen 
in  the  opening  invocation: 


Earth,  Ocean,  Air,  beloved  brotherhood! 
If  our  great  Mother  has  imbued  my  soul 
With  aught  of  natural  piety  to  feel 
Your  love,  and  recompense  the  boon  with  mine; 
If  dewy  morn,  and  odorous  noon,  and  even. 
With  sunset  and  its  gorgeous  ministers. 
And  solemn  midnight's  tingling  silentness; 
If  Autumn's  hollow  sighs  in  the  sere  wood, 
And  Winter  robing  with  pure  snow  and  crowns 
Of  starry  ice  the  grey  grass  and  bare  boughs  — 
If  Spring's  voluptuous  pantings  when  she  breathes 
Her  first  sweet  kisses  —  have  been  dear  to  me; 
If  no  bright  bird,  insect,  or  gentle  beast, 


PERCY  BYSSHE  SHELLEY 


313 


I  consciously  have  injured,  but  still  loved 
And  cherished  these  my  kindred ;  —  then  forgive 
This  boast,  beloved  brethren,  and  withdraw 
No  portion  of  your  wonted  favor  now! 

During  that  year  Shelley's  unhappy  wife  committed 
suicide,  and  shortly  afterwards  he  married  Mary  Godwin, 
daughter  of  the  philosopher  William  Godwin.  He  settled  at 
Great  Marlow,  in  Buckinghamshire,  where  Leigh  Hunt  made 
him  acquainted  with  Keats.  There  he  wrote  The  Revolt  of 
Islam  (1817),  in  which  he  took  a  fling  at  various  social 
institutions  that  did  not  meet  with  his  approval,  and  taught 
that  love  alone  should  rule  the  moral  world.  Much  of  this 
long  revolutionary  poem  was  written  in  his  boat  on  the 
Thames  or  while  wandering  about  the  beautiful  country 
near  at  hand. 

31.  Shelley  in  Italy.  He  went  to  Italy  in  1818,  visited 
Byron  in  Venice,  and  spent  a  short  time  in  various  cities, 
finally  settling  in  Pisa. 
During  the  following 
year  he  produced  his 
two  most  important 
works.  The  Cenci  and 
Prometheus  Unbound. 
The  Cenci  is  a  stirring 
tragedy,  telling  the 
pathetic  story  of 
Beatrice  Cenci  and  ac- 
cepted by  most  critics 
as  the  finest  poetic 
drama  written  in  Eng- 
land since  the  spacious 
days  of  Elizabeth. 
Prometheus  Unbound  is  a  lyrical  drama  in  the  classical  style, 
based  on  the  old  story  of  the  demigod  who  was  chained  to 
the  rocks.    In  allegorical  fashion  it  depicts  humanity  strug- 


University  College,  Oxford 


314  THE  ROMANTIC  PERIOD 

gling  in  the  chains  of  evil.  During  this  prolific  period 
Shelley  also  wrote  the  most  admired  of  his  shorter  pieces  — 
his  Ode  to  the  West  Wind,  The  Cloud,  and  To  a  Skylark. 
In  these  we  have  the  finest  illustration  of  his  musical  and 
ethereal  imaginative  quality.  His  longer  poem,  Adonais 
(1821),  is  a  lovely  elegy  expressing  his  indignation  over  the 
untimely  death  of  Keats.  This  noble  threnody  takes  rank 
with  Lycidas  for  beauty  of  language  and  loftiness  of  senti- 
ment. The  poem  concludes  with  a  thought  prophetic  of  his 
own  doom,  which  came  only  a  few  months  later  (1822), 
when  he  was  drowned  while  sailing  on  the  Bay  of  Spezzia: 

The  breath  whose  might  I  have  invoked  in  song 

Descends  on  me;  my  spirit's  bark  is  driven 
Far  from  the  shore,  far  from  the  trembling  throng 

Whose  sails  were  never  to  the  tempest  given. 

The  massy  earth  and  sphered  skies  are  riven! 
I  am  borne  darkly,  fearfully,  afar! 

Whilst,  burning  through  the  inmost  veil  of  heaven,   * 
The  soul  of  Adonais,  like  a  star,  "" 

Beacons  from  the  abode  where  the  eternal  are. 

His  body  was  afterwards  recovered  and  cremated  on  the 
shore.  The  ashes  were  buried  in  the  Protestant  Cemetery 
in  Rome,  not  far  from  the  grave  of  Keats. 

32.  An  Ethereal  Singer.  Shelley's  poetry  is  essentially 
lyrical  and  appeals  mainly  to  those  who  appreciate  the 
musical  and  the  imaginative  quality  in  verse.  He  wrote  no 
pleasantly  rhymed  romantic  tales,  like  those  of  Byron; 
he  made  no  similar  bid  for  popularity.  Like  Byron,  he 
defied  convention  and  preached  rebellion  in  his  poetry, 
but  his  variety  of  rebellion  sought  to  achieve  higher  and 
better  things  for  humanity,  not  to  deify  the  rebel  in  a  con- 
spicuous position  of  sullen  and  uncompromising  defiance. 
The  errors  of  his  life  must  be  judged  more  kindly  than 
Byron's.  He  had  a  noble  vision  of  a  world  made  better  than 
the  world  he  knew.     Every  effort  seemed  to  be  directed 


JOHN   KEATS 


315 


toward  teaching  the  human  soul  how  to  escape  from  its 
base  worldly  shackles  and  soar  to  heights  yet  unattained. 
There  is  a  light  and  airy  quaUty  about  his  verse  that  is 
often  characterized  as  spiritual.  Matthew  Arnold  was  most 
happy  in  his  description  of  Shelley  as  "a  beautiful  and  in- 
effectual angel,  beating  in  the  void  his  luminous  wings  in 


vam. 


JOHN   KEATS    (1795-1821) 

33.  A  Blighted  Life.  John  Keats  was  born  in  London  in 
1795  and  was  the  son  of  a  livery  stableman.  He  attended 
school  at  Enfield,  where  he 
acquired  some  knowledge  of 
Latin  and  French,  but  no 
Greek.  At  fifteen  he  was 
left  an  orphan,  taken  from 
school,  and  apprenticed  to 
a  surgeon.  He  studied 
medicme  in  London  for  two 
years,  but  disliked  the  pro- 
fession. The  reading  of 
Spenser's  Faerie  Queene 
aroused  his  enthusiasm  for 
literature  and  he  soon  began 
to  compose  poetry  of  his 
own.  Leigh  Hunt  en- 
couraged him  by  printing 
one  of  his  sonnets  in  The 
Examiner  and  by  urging  him 
to     continue     his     literary 

efforts.  With  the  help  of  Shelley  he  brought  out  his  Poems 
(1817),  but  the  venture  was  unsuccessful.  However,  it  con- 
tained some  admirable  sonnets,  including  the  one  entitled  On 
First  Looking  into  Chapman's  Homer,  in  which  he  paid  tribute 
to  the  sturdy  Ehzabethan's  translation  as  the  means  of  his  dis- 


John  Keats 


316 


THE  ROMANTIC  PERIOD 


covering  the  wide  domain  where  Homer  reigned  supreme.  In 
1818  he  met  Fanny  Brawne  and  became  engaged  to  her.  Dur- 
ing the  next  six  months  he  wrote  some  of  his  best  work,  includ- 
ing the  first  portion  of  Hyperion.  This  classical  poem,  which 
promised  to  be  one  of  his  greatest  works,  was  left  a  fragment 
—  but    a    superb    fragment  —  at    his    death.      His    poem 

Endymion  (1818)  was 
greeted  by  bitterly 
hostile  reviews  in  The 
Quarterly  Review  and 
Blackwood's  Magazine. 
In  spite  of  its  imma- 
turity and  its  occasional 
excess  of  ornament, 
there  is  much  memora- 
ble poetry  in  this  mythi- 
cal story  of  the  young 
shepherd  who  was  be- 
loved by  the  moon-god- 
dess. Although  the 
poet's  friends  insisted 
that  the  brutal  reviews 
of  this  book  had  aggra- 
vated Keats's  illness  and 
had  hastened  his  death, 
there  is  no  evidence 
that  Keats  was  as  much  distressed  by  the  attacks  as  were  his 
friends.  His  beautiful  poetical  tale  The  Eve  of  St.  Agnes  and 
the  ballad  La  Belle  Dame  sans  Merci  were  both  written  in 
1819.  About  this  time  his  health  broke  down  and  the  symp- 
toms of  consumption  disclosed  themselves.  Early  in  the 
following  year  his  health  gave  way  completely  and  he 
realized  that  the  end  was  near.  He  brought  out  his  Lamia 
and  Other  Poems  (1820)  which,  in  addition  to  Lamia,  a  tradi- 
tion of  a  beautiful  enchantress  who  is  compelled  to  resume 


La  Belle  Dame  sans  Merci 


JOHN   KEATS  317 

her  true  serpent  form,  also  contained  The  Eve  of  St.  Agnes, 
which  is  usually  accepted  as  his  masterpiece.  There  is 
nothing  in  English  romantic  poetry  that  exceeds  the  sheer 
beauty  of  the  scene  as  it  unfolds  itself  —  the  bitter  chill  of 
a  winter's  night  in  a  medieval  castle,  where  an  ancient 
Beadsman  mutters  his  prayers  among  the  tombs  in  the 
icy  chapels,  while  knights  and  ladies  are  engaged  in  joyous 
revelry  in  the  glowing  halls  beyond : 

His  prayer  he  saith,  this  patient  holy  man; 

Then  takes  his  lamp,  and  rises  from  his  knees. 

And  back  returneth,  meagre,  barefoot,  wan. 

Along  the  chapel  aisle  by  slow  degrees: 

The  sculptur'd  dead,  on  each  side,  seem  to  freeze,  : 

Emprison'd  in  black,  purgatorial  rails: 

Knights,  ladies,  praying  in  dumb  orat'ries, 

He  passeth  by;  and  his  weak  spirit  fails 

To  think  how  they  may  ache  in  icy  hoods  and  mails. 

A  love-story  somewhat  suggestive  of  Romeo  and  Juliet 
develops,  but  the  ending  is  happy.  Never  has  such  a  tale 
been  more  delicately  or  more  beautifully  told. 

Included  in  this  memorable  volume  were  the  Ode  to  a 
Grecian  Urn  and  the  Ode  to  a  Nightingale,  which  are  among 
the  supreme  lyrical  poems  of  the  language.  In  the  latter 
we  note  the  passionate  heart-ache  and  a  premonition  of  the 
early  death  that  awaited  him : 

Darkling  I  listen;  and,  for  many  a  time 

I  have  been  half  in  love  with  easeful  Death, 
Caird  him  soft  names  in  many  a  mused  rhyme. 

To  take  into  the  air  my  quiet  breath; 

Now  more  than  ever  seems  it  rich  to  die. 
To  cease  upon  the  midnight  with  no  pain. 

While  thou  art  pouring  forth  thy  soul  abroad 
In  such  an  ecstasy! 
Still  wouldst  thou  sing,  and  I  have  ears  in  vain  — 

To  thy  high  requiem  become  a  sod. 


318  THE  ROMANTIC  PERIOD 

He  sailed  for  Italy  in  September,  accompanied  by  his  friend 
Joseph  Severn,  the  artist.  He  died  in  Rome  in  February, 
1821,  only  a  few  months  after  his  twenty-fifth  birthday. 
The  simple  headstone  over  his  grave  in  the  Protestant 
Cemetery  in  Rome  carries  the  inscription:  "Here  lies  one 
whose  name  was  writ  in  water." 

34.  The  Apostle  of  Beauty.  In  his  poetry  Keats  lived  as 
in  a  world  detached.  He  cared  little  or  nothing  for  what 
was  going  on  about  him  in  politics,  literature,  or  philosophy. 
The  beauty  of  that  realm  of  his  own  creating  was  all-sufficient. 
In  the  opening  lines  of  Endymion  he  sang: 

A  thing  of  beauty  is  a  joy  forever: 

Its  loveliness  increases,  it  will  never 

Pass  into  nothingness;  but  still  will  keep 

A  bower  quiet  for  us  and  a  sleep 

Full  of  sweet  dreams,  and  health,  and  quiet  breathing. 

His  fine  sense  for  sound  brought  back  into  our  literature  the 
gorgeous  phrasing  of  the  Elizabethans.  In  spite  of  his 
ignorance  of  Greek,  he  was  thoroughly  famihar  with  classic 
literature  in  translation  and  revealed  more  of  the  spirit  of 
ancient  Athens  than  many  a  poet  of  university  training. 
His  fondness  for  classical  mythology  is  seen  in  his  choice  of 
subjects.  Like  Shelley,  he  is  a  poet's  poet.  His  remoteness 
from  human  interests  has  narrowed  the  circle  of  his  appeal, 
but  Keats  should  not  be  censured  for  failing  to  attain  a 
popularity  for  which  he  did  not  strive.  None  of  the  other 
romantic  poets  more  thoroughly  lived  up  to.  the  principle 
of  art  for  art's  sake.  Nor  must  we  forget  that  his  great 
achievement  is  that  of  the  shortest  life  in  EngHsh  poetry 
except  Chatterton's. 

Byron,  Shelley,  and  Keats  are  always  grouped  together, 
just  as  we  group  Wordsworth,  Coleridge,  and  Southey.  The 
older  men,  who  constituted  the  Lake  School,  were  all  born 
between  1770  and  1774,  began  life  as  liberals,  became  con- 


JOHN   KEATS  319 

servatives,  and  lived  in  England  to  a  normal  old  age.  The 
other  three,  who  were  caUed  the  Satanic  School  by  Southey, 
were  all  born  between  1788  and  1795,  were  either  liberal  or 
radical  all  their  lives,  and  died  young  in  foreign  lands.  Of 
course,  they  differed  greatly  among  themselves  in  their 
ideals.  Byron  was  an  egotist  in  art,  Shelley  an  idealist,  and 
Keats  a  worshiper  of  beauty  for  its  own  sake. 

35.  Minor  Romantic  Poets.  The  great  outburst  of 
poetry  during  the  period  of  the  romantic  triumph  obscured 
the  work  of  several  capable  singers  who  would  rank  higher 
but  for  the  inevitable  comparisons  with  their  greater  con- 
temporaries. A  few  of  these  merit  brief  mention.  Samuel 
Rogers  (1763-1855),  a  banker  and  a  patron  of  literature, 
outlived  even  Landor  by  three  years.  Such  writers  as  Sterne, 
Gray,  and  Goldsmith  were  still  alive  during  his  boyhood; 
and  Stevenson  was  a  lad  of  five  when  Rogers  died.  He  was 
a  man  of  great  wealth  and  did  much  to  encourage  young 
writers.  He  wrote  The  Pleasures  of  Mem(yry  and  Italy, 
poems  that  reflected  a  rather  academic  attitude.  In  1850 
he  had  the  honor  of  declining  the  laureateship.  Thomas 
Campbell  (1777-1844),  a  Scotchman,  was  influenced  by 
Rogers  when  he  wrote  his  poem,  The  Pleasures  of  Hope, 
which  secured  for  him  a  resting-place  in  Westminster  Abbey. 

Thomas  Moore  (1779-1852)  was  an  Irishman  who  was  im- 
mensely popular  in  his  day,  but  is  now  somewhat  neglected. 
His  ornate  Oriental  poem  Lalla  Rookh  was  inspired  by  the 
metrical  tales  of  his  friend  Byron,  whose  biography  he 
later  wrote.  Although  his  ambitious  poems  are  almost 
forgotten,  Moore  has  an  assured  place  in  literature  because 
of  his  songs  beginning  "'Tis  the  last  rose  of  summer," 
"Believe  me  if  all  those  endearing  young  charms,"  "She 
is  far  from  the  land  where  her  young  hero  sleeps,"  and 
"The  harp  that  once  through  Tara's  halls." 

Thomas  Hood  (1799-1845)  devoted  a  life  of  ill-health  and 
affliction  to  the  writing  of  humorous  poetry.    He  published 


320 


THE  ROMANTIC   PERIOD 


The  Poets'  Comer 


MINOR  ROMANTIC   POETS  321 

comic  annuals  and  undertook  all  sorts  of  depressing  hack- 
work, yet  he  did  more  to  make  the  world  laugh  than  any 
other  English  poet.  He  was  probably  the  greatest  of  all 
punsters  and  was  responsible  for  some  of  our  best  puns  — 
as  well  as  some  of  the  worst.  Poems  in  punning  style  are 
Faithless  Sally  Brown  and  Faithless  Nelly  Gray.  But  the 
man  who  wrote  these  gay  trifles  had  also  a  tragic  note  in 
his  memorable  lyric  of  social  protest,  The  Song  of  the  Shirt, 
which  was  a  cry  from  the  heart  of  the  poor  underpaid  seam- 
stress; his  other  popular  poem,  The  Bridge  of  Sighs,  is  a 
masterpiece  of  human  sympathy  wrought  in  an  unusual 
meter.  There  is  a  weird  fascination  in  his  dramatic  poem. 
The  Dream  of  Eugene  Aram,  that  will  appeal  to  those  who 
admire  versified  "tales  of  terror." 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  VICTORIAN  AGE 

1.  Social  and  Political  Changes.  When  England  in  1815 
concluded  her  long  struggle  against  Napoleon  and  saw  him 
safely  stowed  away  on  St.  Helena,  she  looked  forward  to  the 
pleasant  pursuits  of  peace;  yet  the  ensuing  seventeen  years 
witnessed  a  most  remarkable  revolution  iu  English  history. 
It  was  not  a  revolution  like  that  of  France,  accompanied  by 
bitter  warfare  and  shedding  of  royal  blood,  but  an  equally 
effective  revolution  that  placed  political  power  more  defi- 
nitely in  the  hands  of  the  people.  Cruel  laws  that  imposed 
the  death  penalty  for  more  than  two  hundred  offenses  were 
repealed;  the  man  who  stole  five  shillings  was  no  longer 
subject  to  the  same  sentence  as  a  murderer.  '  The  slave- 
trade  was  abolished  and  imprisonment  for  debt  was  like- 
wise stopped.  After  a  bitter  struggle  in  Parliament  the 
unjust  laws  against  Catholics  and  Dissenters  were  repealed, 
and  in  the  great  Reform  Bill  of  1832  —  one  of  the  land- 
marks in  the  history  of  democracy  —  the  entire  government 
was  made  over.  As  the  Magna  Carta  of  1215  represented 
the  triumph  of  the  people  collectively  over  the  autocratic 
king,  the  Reform  Bill  of  1832  represented  the  triumph  of 
the  middle  and  working  classes  over  the  nobility.  Slavery 
was  promptly  abolished  in  the  colonies,  and  soon  after  came 
factory  legislation  to  provide  more  humane  conditions  for 
the  workers.  In  literature,  curiously  enough,  the  line  of 
demarcation  between  the  old  order  and  the  new  was  quite 
as  definite.  The  year  1832  marked  the  death  of  Scott  and 
the  virtual  beginnings  of  the  literary  careers  of  Tennyson 
and  Browning.     A  few  years  later   (1837)  when  Victoria 

322 


SCIENCE  AND  RELIGION  323 

ascended  the  throne,  both  Dickens  and  Thackeray  had 
pubHshed  their  earUest  works  and  the  rich  Hterary  output 
of  the  Victorian  era  (1837-1901)  was  under  way.  No  other 
reign  in  Enghsh  history  saw  more  significant  and  far-reaching 
changes  in  the  daily  routine  of  a  typical  Englishman's  hfe. 

2.  Growth  of  Democracy.  The  popular  triumph  that 
attended  the  wresting  of  power  from  the  House  of  Lords  in 
1832  was  carried  on  successfully  by  the  Uberal  interests  and 
was  widely  reflected  in  the  literature  of  the  period.  New 
conditions  produced  difficult  problems  for  the  new  democracy 
to  solve.  The  application  of  steam  and  machinery  to  manu- 
facturing wTought  havoc  in  various  handicrafts  and  threw 
thousands  out  of  employment.  Workers  organized  trades- 
unions  for  their  protection.  The  lower  classes  felt  that  the 
business  interests  were  getting  the  greatest  benefit  under 
the  new  order  of  things,  and  they  drew  up  a  "People's 
Charter"  to  exploit  their  own  cause.  Their  demands  were 
too  sweeping,  however,  and  the  Chartist  Movement  ended 
in  failure.  Many  of  the  wrongs  suffered  by  the  masses  were 
corrected  by  later  legislation.  There  was  a  rapid  develop- 
ment of  interest  in  popular  education.  Improved  methods 
of  printing  made  newspapers  cheaper;  magazines  and  other 
periodicals  multiplied  and  were  more  widely  read.  The 
institution  of  penny  postage  did  much  to  improve  com- 
munication and  to  break  up  rural  isolation.  The  town 
laborer  soon  had  an  opportunity  to  attend  night-schools  or 
"workingmen's  colleges,'*  and  thus  become  a  more  in- 
telligent citizen.  The  writers  of  the  age  had  to  consider  the 
tastes  and  the  inclinations  of  a  constantly  growing  circle 
of  readers  who  represented  all  stages  of  the  social  order. 
Under  such  conditions  the  literature  of  the  Victorian  era 
gradually  became  more  democratic  and  more  general  in  its 
appeal. 

3.  Science  and  Religion.  The  remarkable  progress  that 
followed    the    introduction    of   the    steam-locomotive    can 


324  THE  VICTORIAN  AGE 

hardly  be  fully  grasped  at  this  late  day.  The  difference 
between  transportation  by  the  leisurely  stage-coach  of  the 
eighteenth  century  and  the  swift  railroad  train  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  presents  but  one  phase  of  the  advance.  The 
electric  telegraph  seemed  almost  a  miracle  when  it  was  first 
tested,  yet  the  cable,  the  telephone,  and  the  electric  light 
followed  in  fairly  rapid  succession.  Developments  in  the 
natural  sciences,  in  medicine,  and  in  surgery  were  such  that 
some  conservative  spirits  feared  the  consequences  of  this 
amazing  progress  in  scientific  achievement.  There  was  a 
tendency  towards  materialism  and  away  from  spiritual 
ideals  —  a  trend  that  became  most  marked  after  the  doctrine 
of  evolution  was  announced  and  men  began  to  discuss  the 
"conflict"  between  religion  and  science.  Many  scholars 
and  writers  were  seized  with  grave  doubts  for  a  time;  they 
suffered  much  anguish  of  spirit  until  the  fact  became  clear 
to  them  that  science  and  religion  were  not  antagonistic, 
but  could  work  in  harmony  for  the  welfare  of  mankind. 
Under  such  conditions  it  is  easy  to  understand  why,  in  spite 
of  the  popularity  of  Tennyson,  the  general  trend  of  the 
Victorian  Age  was  toward  prose,  especially  the  novel  and 
the  essay.  Poetry  gradually  came  to  be  looked  upon  as 
convenient  material  for  filling  up  odd  spaces  in  the  magazines 
not  preempted  by  fiction  or  literary  essays.  During  the 
later  decades  of  the  age  there  w^as  little  encouragement  for 
the  poet  who  ventured  to  put  forth  a  long  epic  or  narrative 
poem.  Even  the  publication  of  short  poems  collected  in 
book  form  found  a  comparatively  small  audience.  Unlike 
the  Romantic  period,  which  was  a  golden  age  for  poetry, 
the  Victorian  period  was  essentially  an  age  of  prose. 

Two  important  essayists  belong  to  the  transition  from  one 
period  to  the  other.  It  is  somewhat  diflScult  to  assign  Carlyle 
and  Macaulay  to  their  proper  places.  Macaulay  published 
his  first  essay  in  1825.  Carlyle,  although  he  was  the  older 
man  and  began  publishing  in  1824,  did  not  become  con- 


THOMAS  BABINGTON  MACAULAY 


325 


spicuous  as  a  writer  until  1837,  when  Victoria  ascended  the 
throne.  Both  men  did  their  best  work  during  the  Victorian 
era  and  Carlyle  survived  until  1881.  However,  DeQuincey 
and  Hunt  both  lived  until  1859,  when  Macaulay  died,  and 
they  might  properly  be  grouped  with  him,  as  he  reflected 
less  of  the  modern  spirit  than  we  find  in  Carlyle. 


THOMAS   BABINGTON   MACAULAY    (1800-1859) 


Macaulay  was  born  at  Rothley 
as   the   son   of   Zachary 


4.  A  Remarkable  Youth. 
Temple,  Leicestershire,  in  1800, 
Macaulay,  a  wealthy  philan- 
thropist and  zealous  opponent 
of  the  slave-trade.  He  was  a 
precocious  child,  reading  at  the 
age  of  three  and  writing  epics  at 
eight.  After  attending  various 
private  schools,  he  entered 
Trinity  College,  Cambridge , 
when  he  was  eighteen.  His 
career  at  the  University  revealed 
his  remarkable  intellectual  pow- 
ers. Twice  he  won  the  prize  for 
the  best  English  poem  and  for 
seven  years  he  held  a  fellowship 
at  Trinity.  Throughout  life  he 
was  an  omnivorous  reader  and 
an  incessant  worker.  Many 
stories  are  told  of  his  remarkable  memory.  At  nine  he  had 
read  Scott's  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel  once  and  could  repeat  the 
entire  poem.  Later  he  had  the  reputation  of  being  able  to 
repeat  most  of  the  Bible  and  all  of  Paradise  Lost  and  Pilgrim's 
Progress.  His  essay  on  Milton  (1825),  which  appeared  in 
The  Edinburgh  Review,  literally  made  him,  like  Byron, 
famous   overnight.     From   that   time   he   was   a   frequent 


Thomas  Babington  Macaulay 


326  THE   VICTORIAN  AGE 

contributor  to  the  periodicals  and  wrote  extensively  even 
during  the  busy  years  of  his  political  activity.  He  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1826  and  four  years  later  was  elected 
to  Parliament.  In  politics  he  was  consistently  a  liberal  and 
much  interested  in  the  great  issues  of  the  day.  His  brilliant 
speeches  in  1831-1832  during  the  agitation  of  the  Reform 
Bill  won  him  recognition  as  a  leading  orator.  His  services 
were  rewarded  in  1834  with  an  appointment  as  Member 
of  the  Supreme  Council  in  India  at  a  salary  of  £10,000. 
Macaulay  remained  in  India  more  than  four  years  and  did 
much  to  codify  and  improve  the  laws  of  that  country. 

5.  The  Historian  of  England.  Upon  his  return  from 
India  he  was  repeatedly  elected  to  represent  Edinburgh  in 
Parliament,  but  lost  his  seat  in  1847  because  he  was  brave 
enough  to  offend  some  of  the  least  worthy  of  his  constituents. 
He  was  a  man  of  the  strictest  integrity  and  never  com- 
promised with  his  conscience.  After  his  defeat  he  withdrew 
from  political  life  for  five  years  and  devoted  himself  to  the 
great  project  of  writing  the  history  of  England  from  the 
Revolution  of  1688  to  the  reform  era  of  1832.  The  first  two 
volumes  of  the  History  of  England  appeared  in  1848  and 
achieved  an  immediate  success.  All  sorts  of  honors  were 
thrust  upon  him.  He  was  made  Lord  Rector  of  Glasgow 
University  and  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society.  Edinburgh 
very  penitently  ~  reelected  him  in  1852  as  a  representative 
in  Parliament.  Further  distinctions  came  to  him  from 
universities  and  learned  societies  all  over  the  world  as  he 
continued  his  labors  on  the  great  History.  The  third  and 
fourth  volumes  appeared  in  1855.  Two  years  later  he  was 
created  Baron  Macaulay  and  took  his  seat  in  the  House  of 
Lords.  His  industrious  and  very  brilliant  career  was  brought 
suddenly  to  a  close  by  heart  disease  in  1859.  He  was  buried 
near  Addison  in  Westminster  Abbey.  The  fifth  and  last 
volume  of  his  History  of  England  was  published  posthu- 
mously in  1861.    So  detailed  was  Macaulay 's  treatment  of 


THOMAS  BABINGTON  MACAULAY  327 

the  period  he  had  chosen  that  the  entire  five  volumes  include 
only  sixteen  years,  or  about  one-ninth  of  the  ground  he  had 
hoped  to  cover. 

6.  Significance  of  Macaulay.  Although  Macaulay  was 
primarily  a  prose  writer,  he  also  published  a  volume  of 
poems  called  Lays  of  Ancient  Rome  (1842).  Some  critics 
are  inchned  to  deny  that  these  spirited  tales  in  verse  are 
poems  at  all,  because  of  their  commonplace  ideas  and  cheap 
rhetoric,  but  school-boys  still  hke  to  proclaim  how  Horatius 
and  his  valiant  companions  kept  the  bridge  in  the  brave 
days  of  old.  The  collected  essays  of  Lord  Macaulay  may 
be  most  conveniently  classified  as  literary  and  historical. 
Among  the  literary  essays  the  best  are  those  on  Addison^ 
Bacon,  Bunyan,  Dryden,  Goldsmith,  and  Johnson;  the  best 
historical  essays  are  on  Clive,  the  Earl  of  Chatham,  Frederick 
the  Great,  Warren  Hastings,  and  the  younger  William  Pitt. 
All  of  these  are  visuaHzed  with  a  wealth  of  detail  and  anec- 
dote that  make  the  portrait  complete.  In  his  essays,  as  in 
his  history,  he  portrayed  characters  so  vividly  that  his 
writing  is  as  entertaining  as  a  romance.  Macaulay  must 
be  read  with  some  caution,  however,  because  he  was  so 
intensely  devoted  to  his  Whig  principles  that  he  could  not 
always  be  fair  to  his  opponents. 

Lord  Macaulay 's  prose  style  is  commendable  for  its 
clearness.  He  took  pains  to  acquire  a  fluent  manner,  free 
from  monotony  and  from  the  curse  of  involved  sentences. 
His  prime  purpose  was  to  make  the  reader  understand.  He 
knew  that  the  average  man  prefers  a  short  sentence  to  a 
long  one  and  that  such  a  man  can  learn  more  quickly  from 
a  concrete  illustration  than  from  an  abstract  statement. 
Macaulay  was  not  a  visionary  nor  an  idealist.  He  was  a 
practical,  clear-headed  thinker  who  made  the  most  of  the 
facts  assembled  by  his  capacious  memory.  His  message 
still  appeals  to  great  numbers  of  readers  because  it  is  enter- 
tainingly expressed  and  easily  remembered.    Lord  Macaulay 


328 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE 


is  not  to  be  ranked  among  the  great  spiritual  leaders  of  his 
age,  but  he  did  much  to  win  innumerable  readers,  young  and 
old,  to  an  appreciation  of  good  literature. 


THOMAS   CARLYLE   (1795-1881) 

7.  A  Busy  Life.  Thomas  Carlyle  was  born  1795  in  a 
humble  cottage  at  Ecclefechan,  in  Scotland,  and  was  the 
son  of  a  sturdy  stone-mason.     At  the  age  of  five  he  went 

to  the  village  school  and 
later  to  the  grammar  school 
at  Annan.  At  fourteen  he 
entered  the  University  of 
Edinburgh  and  upon  com- 
pleting his  course  there, 
taught  school  for  several 
years.  His  parents  wished 
him  to  train  for  the  minis- 
try, but  he  felt  no  inclina- 
tion for  that  calling,  al- 
though he  had  taken  courses 
in  both  divinity  and  law  at 
Edinburgh.  He  began  the 
study  of  German  literature 
and  in  1822  wrote  a  Life  of 
Schiller  for  The  London 
Magazine.  Two  years  later 
he   translated    Goethe's 


Thomas  Carlyle 


Wilhelm  Meister  and  did  other  notable  services  in  acquainting 
Enghsh  readers  with  the  more  important  literature  of  Ger- 
many. About  this  period  he  visited  London  for  the  first 
time  and  met  Coleridge  at  Highgate.  In  1826,  after  a  court- 
ship lasting  several  years,  he  married  Jane  Welsh,  a  talented 
woman  of  distinguished  lineage  who  lightened  his  cares  dur- 
ing the  bitter  struggle   for  recognition.      Carlyle  suffered 


THOMAS  CARLYLE 


329 


from  chronic  dyspepsia  and  was  not  always  a  cheerful  com- 
panion. Whenever  his  complaint  was  "gnawing  like  a  rat 
in  his  stomach,'*  he  must  have  been  a  sore  trial  to  his 
devoted  wife.  They  lived  for  six  years  on  her  farm  at 
Craigenputtock.  During  this  period  he  wrote  Sartor  Resartus, 
his  remarkable  book  on  the  philosophy  of  clothes,  which  he 
contributed  to  Fraser^s  Magazine  in  1833-1834.  This  signi- 
ficant work  was  slighted  at  first  in  England,  but  attracted 
considerable  attention  in  America.  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson 
visited  Carlyle  at  Craigenputtock  and  formed  a  friendship 
that  not  only  continued  for  half  a  century,  but  also  found 
expression  in  an  in- 
teresting exchange  of 
letters.  The  publica- 
tion of  this  important 
correspondence  empha- 
sized the  close  intellec- 
tual kinship  between 
England  and  America. 
8.  Carlyle  in  Lon- 
don. In  1834  Carlyle 
removed  to  London, 
where  he  continued  to 
Cheyne  Row,   Chelsea. 


Ecclefechan 


ive  for  nearly  half  a  century  in 
In  the  attic-study  of  this  house 
Carlyle  had  a  double  wall  built  to  keep  out  the  noises  from 
the  street,  as  well  as  the  irritating  crowing  of  his  neighbors* 
cocks  —  but  the  device  was  not  successful.  During  the 
first  part  of  that  period  Jane  Welsh  Carlyle  was  a  gracious 
hostess  in  the  Cheyne  Row  home,  which  is  to-day  one  of  the 
notable  literary  shrines  of  London.  The  many  friends  of 
the  Carlyles  soon  recognized  the  fact  that  she  would  have 
become  distinguished  on  her  own  account  if  she  had  not 
elected  to  become  the  wife  of  Carlyle.  Shortly  after  their 
removal  to  London  it  was  Carlyle's  great  misfortune  to 
suffer  a  serious  loss  through  the  negligence  of  one  of  those 


330  THE  VICTORIAN  AGE 

friends.  While  he  was  at  work  on  his  history  of  the  French 
Revolution,  he  permitted  John  Stuart  Mill  to  look  over  the 
manuscript  of  the  first  volume.  A  servant  carelessly  de- 
stroyed the  manuscript,  to  the  great  despair  of  Mill.  Carlyle, 
however,  resolutely  set  to  work  again  and  rewrote  the 
history  from  the  beginning.  When  The  French  Revolution 
(1837)  finally  made  its  appearance,  it  estabhshed  the  author's 
reputation  for  all  time.  It  is  not  trustworthy  history, 
however,  because  Carlyle  stressed  unduly  the  picturesque 
leaders  and  the  incidents  that  appealed  to  his  fancy,  and 
gave  his  readers  a  succession  of  graphic  scenes  in  the  Reign 
of  Terror.  A  collection  of  Critical  and  Miscellaneous  Essays 
that  appeared  in  1839  included  his  famous  Essay  on  Burns, 
the  most  admirable  of  his  shorter  pieces,  and  still  regarded 
as  the  best  estimate  of  his  gifted  fellow-countryman.  Heroes 
and  Hero-War  ship  (1841)  was  a  series  of  lectures  delivered 
in  London.  In  these  he  adopted  the  view  that  all  great 
developments  in  history  result  from  strong  leaders  and  that 
the  masses  of  mankind  will  follow  as  the  dominant  person- 
ality leads.  To  establish  his  contention,  Carlyle  selected 
Mahomet,  Dante,  Luther,  Shakespeare,  Knox,  Cromwell, 
and  Napoleon,  and  showed  how  they  had  influenced  their 
own  times  and  posterity  by  their  varying  kinds  of  leadership. 
CromweWs  Letters  and  Speeches  (1845)  was  an  important 
undertaking  that  did  much  to  set  the  Protector  right  in 
English  minds.  In  the  essays  and  pamphlets  that  followed, 
Carlyle  showed  more  of  a  disposition  to  scold  and  to  denounce 
his  contemporaries.  His  important  undertaking,  The  History 
of  Frederick  the  Second  (1858-1865),  represented  fourteen 
years  of  literary  toil.  It  is  really  a  history  of  continental 
Europe  for  the  period  it  covers,  but  its  length  is  apt  to  dis- 
courage the  modern  reader.  In  1865  he  was  elected  Lord 
Rector  of  the  University  of  Edinburgh.  It  was  during  his 
visit  to  Edinburgh  in  1866  to  deliver  the  inaugural  address 
that  he  received  the  news  of  his  wife's  sudden  death  in 


THOMAS  CARLYLE 


331 


London.  Carlyle  was  much  depressed  by  his  loss  —  the 
more  so,  perhaps,  because  he  learned  from  her  journal  that 
he  had  often  made  her  unhappy  by  his  irritable  temper. 
He  was  then  past  seventy  and  apparently  unwilling  to  under- 
take further  literary  enterprise  without  her  counsel  and 
encouragement.  He  wrote  little  except  his  Reminiscences 
(1881)  during  the  remaining  lonely  years  of  his  life.  He 
died  in  1881  and,  in  accordance  with  his  own  expressed  wish, 
he  was  not  buried  in  West- 
minster Abbey,  but  with  his 
kinsfolk  in  the  graveyard  at  his 
birthplace. 

9.  Carlyle's  Message. 
Although  Carlyle  was  born  be- 
fore the  triumph  of  Romanti- 
cism was  complete,  he  was  a 
thoroughly  modern  spirit  from 
the  first.  The  theory  voiced  in 
Sartor  Resartus  was  a  strong 
protest  against  the  false  empha- 
sis laid  upon  the  externals  of 
life  —  judging  men  by  appear- 
ances rather  than  by  intrinsic 
worth.  He  felt  that  the  world 
wiU    always    be    dominated   by 

those  who  reveal  the  instinct  for  leadership,  and  that  this 
revelation  may  come  just  as  readily  to  a  peasant  as  to  a  king. 
He  proclaimed  this  doctrine  in  a  strongly  characteristic  style. 
Unlike  Macaulay,  he  did  not  strive  to  clarify  and  polish  his 
periods.  He  took  the  great  truths  as  they  suggested  them- 
selves to  him  and  literally  hurled  them  at  his  reader  in  that 
original  form.  He  sought  the  spirit  of  things,  and  cared  httle 
for  the  niceties  of  diction.  He  was  eloquent,  grotesque, 
fluent,  disjointed  in  turn.  His  strong  prejudices  sometimes 
led  him  to  indulge  in  a  tirade  of  scolding  that  irritated  his 


Jane  Welsh  Carlyle 


332 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE 


readers,  but  he  was  always  a  man  of  high  ideals,  preaching 
the  doctrine  of  work  and  duty  to  the  world.  Although  in 
his  later  years  he  was  looked  upon  by  many  as  a  prophet, 
his  influence  began  to  wane  when  his  extreme  pessimism 
denounced  the  progressive  democracy  of  civilization.  In- 
deed he  became  so  bitter  that  a  wit  declared  Carlyle's 
dictum  to  be.  Whatever  is,  is  wrong.  In  spite  of  his  loss  of 
confidence  in  his  fellow-men,  Carlyle  gave  abiding  worth 
to  his  writings  by  revealing  his  strong,  sincere  personality 
in  whatever  he  wrote.     We  cannot  afford  to  neglect  the 

teachings  of  those  who, 
like  Carlyle,  point  the 
stern  way  to  the  highest 
fulfilment  of  life. 


ALFRED,   LORD  TEN- 
NYSON   (1809-1892) 

10.  A  Popular  Poet. 
Alfred  Tennyson  was 
born  at  Somersby  in 
1809,  the  fourth  son  of 
the  Rev.  George  Tenny- 
son, who  was  rector  of 
that  little  Lincolnshire 
village.  There  were 
twelve  children  in 
the  family,  most  of  them 
talented  and  nearly  all 
destined  to  live  to  a  ripe  old  age.  Alfred  received  his 
early  training  at  the  Louth  Grammar  School  and  at  home 
under  his  father's  able  direction.  His  brothers  Frederick 
and  Charles  were  both  ambitious  to  become  poets  and 
Alfred  imitated  their  example.  In  1827  Charles  and 
Alfred  jointly  published  an  anonymous  volume  called  Poems 


Lord  Tennyson 


ALFRED,  LORD  TENNYSON  333 

by  Two  Bi  oilier  St  a  collection  that  contained  no  poems  of 
unusual  merit,  but  several  creditable  imitations  of  earlier 
writers.  Tennyson  entered  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  a 
year  later  and  became  one  of  a  group  of  young  men  known 
as  the  Apostles.  The  most  promising  youth  of  this  circle 
was  Arthur  Henry  Hallam,  son  of  Henry  Hallam,  the  his- 
torian. Tennyson  and  Hallam  became  the  best  of  friends, 
and  before  long  Hallam  was  engaged  to  marry  Tennyson's 
sister  Emily.  Meanwhile  Tennyson  won  the  Chancellor's 
medal  for  his  poem  Timhuctoo  in  1829  and  soon  after  brought 
out  his  Poems  Chiefly 
Lyrical  (1830)  under  his 
own  name.  There  was 
a  notable  improvement 
in  the  contents  of  this 
volume,  but  it  attracted 
little  attention  from  the 
critics.  The  death  of 
his  father  necessitated 
his  leaving  Cambridge 
without  a  degree.  His  Poems  (1833)  evoked  a  very  un- 
favorable notice  by  Lockhart  in  The  Quarterly  Review. 
Tennyson  was  so  much  hurt  by  the  criticism  that  he  published 
no  further  collections  of  poetry  for  nine  years;  yet  in  the 
volume  so  roughly  treated  were  some  of  the  best  of  his 
shorter  poems,  including  The  Lady  of  Shalott,  Oenoney  The 
Palace  of  Art,  The  Two  Voices,  The  Lotus  Eaters,  and  A 
Dream  of  Fair  Women.  Among  the  less  meritorious  but 
more  popular  poems  in  the  collection  were  The  Miller's 
Daughter  and  The  May  Queen. 

11.  A  Great  Sorrow.  About  this  time  his  dear  friend 
Hallam,  who  had  gone  to  the  Continent  to  improve  his 
health,  died  suddenly.  The  bereavement  was  a  terrible 
shock  to  Tennyson,  who  could  not  for  a  time  reconcile  him- 
self to  the  passing  of  so  brilliant  and  promising  a  young 


Tennyson's  Birthplace 


334 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE 


life.  He  soon  began  the  composition  of  a  long  poem  in 
memory  of  his  departed  friend,  and  for  the  next  seventeen 
years  he  wrought  lovingly  at  his  tribute.  Tennyson  had 
become  engaged  to  Emily  Sellwood,  but  on  account  of  his 
financial  circumstances,  which  were  made  even  worse  by 
an  unfortunate  investment  in  a  speculative  scheme,  their 
marriage  had  to  be  postponed.    When  he  next  brought  out 

a  volume  of  Poems 
(1842)  it  was  received 
with  instant  acclaim. 
From  that  time  there 
was  no  longer  any 
question  of  his  leader- 
ship among  the  younger 
generation.  Words- 
worth hailed  the  poet, 
and  the  Prime  Minis- 
ter, Sir  Robert  Peel, 
granted  him  a  pension 
of  £200.  For  half  a 
century  thereafter 
Tennyson  dominated 
English  poetry  with  au- 
thority and  dignity. 
In  the  volume  that  es- 
tablished his  fame  are 
some  of  the  finest  of 
modern  poems,  such  as 
Ulysses,  Morte  d' Arthur, 
Locksley  Hall,  The  Visiori 
of  Sin,  The  Day  Dream, 
and  the  lovely  song  beginning,  "Break,  break,  break." 
The  Princess  (1847)  is  an  entertaining  mock-heroic  poem 
dealing  with  the  question  of  women's  rights,  which  was 
then  engaging  public  attention.    When  we  read  this  fantastic 


Painting  by  Waterhouse 

The  Lady  of  Shalott 


ALFRED,  LORD  TENNYSON  335 

poem  we  should  remember  that  Tennyson  called  it  a 
medley.  In  later  editions  he  added  some  lyrics  of  rare 
beauty,  such  as  "Tears,  idle  tears,"  "Sweet  and  low,"  and 
"The  splendor  falls  on  castle  walls." 

The  year  1850  marked  three  significant  events  in  Tenny- 
son's life.  He  published  his  In  Memoriam,  the  poem  on 
which  he  had  been  engaged  since  the  death  of  Hallam;  he 
became  Poet  Laureate  after  the  death  of  Wordsworth;  and 
he  married  Emily  Sellwood.  In  Memoriam  is  the  noblest 
of  Enghsh  elegiac  poems.  It  is  a  longer  and  more  ambitious 
venture  than  Lycidas  or  Adonais.  Those  earlier  elegies 
were  emotional  and  lyric  in  quality;  In  Memoriam  is  medi- 
tative and  deliberate.  The  others  were  intensely  personal, 
but  In  Memoriam  voices  the  general  grief  of  all  who  have 
lost  dear  ones  and  who  have  to  make  their  way  as  best  they 
can  to  final  consolation  and  renewed  faith.  The  poem 
traces  Tennyson's  gradual  emergence  from  a  state  of  bitter 
anguish  and  spiritual  rebellion  over  the  death  of  his  friend 
to  a  complete  resignation  to  Divine  decree  and  an  abiding 
faith  in  the  promise  of  immortaHty.  When  Tennyson  first 
heard  the  Christmas  bells  ringing  after  the  death  of  Hallam, 
he  exclaimed  in  despair : 

This  year  I  slept  and  woke  with  pain, 
I  almost  wished  no  more  to  wake, 
And  that  my  hold  on  life  would  break 

Before  I  heard  those  bells  again. 

After  he  had  gone  through  the  purifying  fires  of  his  grief 
he  sang  with  calm  confidence : 

Regret  is  dead,  but  love  is  more 

Than  in  the  summers  that  are  flown. 
For  I  myself  with  these  have  grown 

To  something  greater  than  before. 

12.  The  Poet  Laureate.  In  his  oflficial  capacity  as  Poet 
Laureate,   Tennyson  produced  several  notable  poems,  the 


336 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE 


most  important  being  his  Ode  on  the  Death  of  the  Duke  of 
Wellington  (1852),  which  was  rather  harshly  criticized  at 
first,  but  was  later  much  admired  in  its  revised  form.  The 
Charge  of  the  Light  Brigade  (1854)  is  probably  the  best 
known  of  Tennyson's  laureate  poems  and  is  a  fine  tribute  to 
soldierly  courage.  In  1853  he  took  up  residence  in  a  new 
home  at  Farringford,  on  the  Isle  of  Wight.    His  next  poem, 

Maud  (1855),  was  not 
received  with  favor,  al- 
though Tennyson  alwa3's 
cherished  it  as  one  of 
his  favorite  writings.  It 
is  a  melodramatic  love- 
story  in  which  Tennyson 
takes  occasion  to  rail 
against  the  base  com- 
mercial spirit  of  the 
period.  The  poem  shows 
unusual  skill  in  varied 
metrical  forms  and  is 
rich  in  verbal  music. 
Whenever  Tennyson 
was  asked  to  read  a 
selection  from  his  works 
he  usually  chose  a  pas- 
sage from  Maud.  The 
climax  of  his  poetical 
career  came  with  the  publication  of  Idylls  of  the  King  (1859), 
a  group  of  romantic  poems  dealing  with  tales  of  King  Arthur 
and  his  Knights  of  the  Round  Table,  and  based  on  the 
narrative  of  Malory's  Morte  d* Arthur  and  other  sources  of 
medieval  legend.  The  sale  of  10,000  copies  during  the  first 
week  after  publication  showed  Tennyson's  great  popularity 
at  that  time.  In  the  original  form  only  four  idylls  were 
included  —  those  dealing  with   Enid,    Vivien,   Elaine,  and 


Drawing  by  Dor6 

Elaine  on  the  Barge 


ALFRED,   LORD   TENNYSON  337 

Guinevere.  Of  these  Elaine  was  immediately  chosen  as  the 
favorite.  Rarely  was  Tennyson's  pathos  more  effective 
than  in  his  delineation  of  the  tender  maiden's  love  for  the 
great  knight,  Lancelot  of  the  Lake : 

Marr'd  as  he  was,  he  seem'd  the  goodliest  man 
That  ever  among  ladies  ate  in  Hall, 
And  noblest,  when  she  lifted  up  her  eyes. 
However  marr'd,  of  more  than  twice  her  years, 
Seam'd  with  an  ancient  swordcut  on  the  cheek, 
And  bruised  and  bronzed,  she  lifted  up  her  eyes 
And  loved  him,  with  that  love  which  was  her  doom. 

Among  the  later  volumes  that  Tennyson  produced  to  com- 
plete the  cycle  of  twelve  idylls  were  The  Holy  Grail  (1869), 
The  Last  Tournament  (1871),  Gareth  and  Lynette  (1872), 
and  Balin  and  Balan  (1885). 

13.  Tennyson^s  Later  Works.  In  Enoch  Arden  (1864) 
the  poet  turned  from  courtly  scenes  and  tournaments  to  a 
humble  English  fishing  village  and  told  a  simple  story  in- 
volving three  lowly  lives.  The  critics  complained  of  its 
sentimentality  and  its  lack  of  characterization,  but  the  sale 
of  60,000  copies  expressed  the  popular  verdict  in  favor  of 
Tennyson.  In  1868  he  built  his  home  at  Aldworth,  in  Surrey, 
and  thereafter  alternated  between  iVldworth  and  Farring- 
ford  according  to  the  season  of  the  year.  Later  in  life  he 
ventured  into  the  field  of  dramatic  composition.  In  addi- 
tion to  a  number  of  shorter  plays  he  wrote  three  poetic 
tragedies  in  the  Ehzabethan  manner.  Two  of  these  — 
Queen  Mary  (1875)  and  Harold  (1876)  —  did  not  achieve 
success,  but  Becket  (1884)  was  produced  by  Sir  Henry 
Irving  in  England  and  in  America.  Among  the  best  of 
Tennyson's  shorter  plays  are  The  Falcon  and  The  Cup. 
In  1884  he  was  raised  to  the  peerage  as  Baron  Tennyson. 
He  continued  to  write  much  during  his  declining  years, 
but  his  later  poetry  at  times  showed  the  increasing  pessimism 
of  old  age.  His  Locksley  Hall  Sixty  Years  After  reveals  the 
characteristic  view  of  many  an  aged  philosopher  who  realizes 


338  THE  VICTORIAN  AGE 

that  the  world  has  not  fulfilled  the  expectation  of  his  youth. 
He  published  collected  volumes  of  verse  in  1886,  1889.  and 
1892.  In  his  eighty-first  year  he  wrote  a  beautiful  little 
poem,  Crossing  the  Bar,  which  he  directed  to  be  put  at  the 
end  of  all  editions  of  his  poems.  He  died  in  1892  and  was 
buried  in  Westminster  Abbey  beside  Browning.  His  Memoir^ 
written  by  his  son,  Hallam,  Lord  Tennyson,  is  the  most 
important  work  of  its  kind  since  Lockhart's  Life  of  Scott. 

14.  Tennyson^s  Poetry.  Few  poets  were  more  shy  than 
Tennyson  or  more  inclined  to  live  apart  from  the  haunts  of 
men,  yet  at  the  same  time  so  much  interested  in  the  progress 
of  the  great  world  which  they  avoided.  From  his  college 
days  he  read  widely  in  philosophy  and  science.  He  was 
especially  interested  in  the  doctrine  of  evolution,  which 
created  a  sensation  when  it  was  first  proclaimed.  Tennyson 
may  fau-ly  be  called  the  poetical  interpreter  of  the  greatest 
age  since  that  of  Elizabeth.  In  comparing  him  with  other 
poets,  we  must  not  forget  the  remarkable  range  of  his  work. 
His  subjects  include  themes  drawn  from  classical,  medieval, 
and  modern  sources,  and  not  infrequently  from  the  humble 
life  about  him.  There  was  hardly  an  established  form  of 
poetry  that  he  did  not  essay.  His  earlier  work  was  mainly 
lyrical;  in  his  middle  period  he  showed  a  preference  for 
narrative  writing;  in  his  later  years  he  turned  to  dramatic 
composition.  At  all  times  he  displayed  great  metrical  facility. 
The  workmanship  of  his  poetry  is  the  best  since  Pope's. 
He  constantly  revised  his  poems  and  the  changes  that  he 
made  are  most  interesting  to  study.  No  other  poet  was  so 
careful  of  the  succession  of  sounds  in  his  lines.  In  fact, 
some  of  his  earlier  lyrics  are  mere  experiments  in  sound. 
Although  it  is  true  that  Tennyson  employed  many  meters 
in  his  verse,  he  never  took  much  interest  in  the  sonnet  form. 
He  was  at  his  best  in  short  lyrical  measures  and  in  blank 
verse.  Few  surpassed  him  at  the  art  of  coining  apt  phrases 
or  in  the  deft  handling  of  poetic  imagery. 


ROBERT  BROWNING  339 

Tennyson  spent  much  of  his  hfe  in  the  world  of  out-of- 
doors,  yet  he  was  not  essentially  a  nature  poet.  He  knew 
nature  well,  especially  the  birds  and  the  flowers,  but  he 
did  not  interpret  nature  with  the  vision  of  Wordsworth. 
His  knowledge  was  that  of  the  student  or  careful  observer, 
not  that  of  the  prophetic  seer.  He  was  at  his  best  in  such 
narrative  poetry  as  the  Idylls  of  the  King  or  Enoch  Arden, 
both  of  which  reveal  a  wealth  of  picturesque  phrasing  and  a 
leisurely  unfolding  of  the  story.  At  times  he  gave  way  to 
sentimentality,  and  even  in  his  maturer  work  he  continued 
the  excessive  ornamentation  that  marked  some  of  his  earlier 
efforts.  In  spite  of  such  faults,  however,  he  ranks  among 
the  supreme  artists  in  English  poetry  and  among  the  great- 
est of  those  to  whom  the  literary  art  was  as  a  consecration. 


ROBERT   BROWNING    (1812-1889) 

15.  An  Intellectual  Poet.  Robert  Browning  was  born 
in  1812  in  Camberwell,  London.  His  father  was  connected 
with  the  Bank  of  Eng- 
land and  was  known  as 
a  devotee  of  letters 
and  art.  At  the  age  of 
eight  young  Browning 
delighted  in  Pope's 
Homer,  but  soon  trans- 
ferred his  affections  to 
Byron  and  the  other 
romantic  poets.  He 
attended  school  for  a 
time  at  Peckham  and 
was  later  placed  in  the 
hands     of     a      private  Robert  Browning 

tutor.    He   did  not 

pursue  his  studies  at  the  university,  although  he  attended  a 
few  lectures  at  University   College,  London.      His  earliest 


340  THE  VICTORIAN  AGE 

efforts  at  writing  poetry  were  imitations  of  Byron,  but  bis 
first  pubHsbed  poem,  Pauline  (1833),  is  mainly  notable  be- 
cause of  its  exalted  tribute  to  Shelley,  under  whose  spell  he 
happened  to  be  writing.  This  poem  was  brought  out  anony- 
mously at  the  expense  of  Browning's  aunt,  and  according  to 
one  report,  not  a  single  copy  was  sold.  His  first  visit  to  Italy 
in  1834  was  part  of  an  extended  tour  that  included  Russia  and 
gave  him  interesting  glimpses  of  continental  life.  In  the  follow- 
ing year  he  published  another  poem,  Paracelsus,  a  work  of 
unequal  merit,  but  characterized  by  much  profound  thought. 
It  is  a  variation  of  the  Faust-legend  —  the  passionate 
yearning  for  knowledge.  His  poetic  tragedy  of  Strafford 
was  produced  by  the  actor  Macready  at  Covent  Garden 
in  1837,  but  with  no  striking  success.  Sordello  (1840)  has 
the  reputation  of  being  the  most  obscure  of  Browning's 
works.  Many  amusing  stories  are  told  about  it.  Carlyle 
declared  that  his  wife  after  reading  it  did  not  know  whether 
Sordello  was  a  man,  a  city,  or  a  book.  Tennyson  said  he 
understood  only  the  first  line  and  the  last  line  —  and  both 
of  them  were  lies.  Douglas  Jerrold  read  the  poem  while 
lying  sick  in  bed  and  burst  into  tears,  believing  that  he  had 
lost  his  mind.  From  the  time  of  Sordello  Browning's  name 
w^as  associated  with  obscurity  of  expression.  Many  readers 
to  their  own  great  loss  have  neglected  his  poems  because 
they  felt  they  would  not  understand  the  poet's  meaning. 

16.  A  Literary  Dramatist.  For  several  years  thereafter 
Browning  devoted  his  best  efforts  to  the  composition  of 
literary  dramas,  of  which  the  best  are  Pippa  Passes  (1841), 
The  Return  of  the  Druses  (1843),  A  Blot  in  the  Scutcheon 
(1843),  Colombe's  Birthday  (1844),  and  A  SouVs  Tragedy 
(1846).  These  are  included  in  a  group  of  eight  plays  pub- 
lished (1841-1846)  under  the  general  title  Bells  and  Pome- 
granates. Pippa  Passes  portrays  a  day  in  the  life  of  a  young 
girl,  a  worker  in  an  Italian  silk-mill.  It  is  her  one  holiday 
in  the  year  and  she  wants  to  make  the  most  of  it.    Uncon- 


ROBERT  BROWNING 


341 


sclously  Pippa  plays  a  significant  part  in  the  lives  of  the  men 
and  women  who  are  so  dramatically  i)ortrayed  while  she 
passes  and  sings  her  simple  song.  Browning's  plays  are 
not  well  adapted  for  presentation  because  the  characters  are 
too  fond  of  talking  at  length  and  because  they  are  minutely 
analyzed  at  the  expense  of  action.  A  Blot  in  the  Scutcheon 
is  the  only  one  that  had  a  distinct  success  on  the  stage. 

In  1845  BroTVTiing  published  his  Dramatic  Romances, 
which  include  several  of  his  most  popular  poems,  such  as 
Incident  of  the  French  Camp,  My 
Last  Duchess,  The  Glove,  The  Boy 
and  the  Angel,  In  a  Gondola,  and 
The  Pied  Piper  of  Hamelin. 
During  the  same  year  he  became 
acquainted  with  Elizabeth  Bar- 
rett after  an  exchange  of  letters 
in  which  he  praised  her  poetry. 
Miss  Barrett,  who  was  born  in 
1806,  had  been  an  invalid  for 
many  years  and  had  to  build  a 
world  for  herself  in  her  sick- 
room. At  the  time  she  met 
Browning  her  reputation  as  a 
poet  was  greater  than  his.  Her 
pathetic   poem.    The   Cry  of  the 

Children,  a  passionate  protest  against  child-labor  in  the 
factories  and  mines  of  England,  had  directed  general  atten- 
tion to  one  of  the  cankers  of  the  social  system.  Another 
poem,  Lady  Geraldine's  Courtship^  was  also  widely  read.  A 
romance  developed  between  the  two  poets  in  spite  of  the 
opposition  of  her  obstinate,  hot-tempered  father.  Realizing 
that  it  was  impossible  to  obtain  his  consent.  Browning  and 
Miss  Barrett  were  quietly  married  in  1846  and  went  tq  Italy 
for  their  honeymoon.  Mr.  Barrett  remained  unforgiving  to 
the  last  and  never  saw  his  daughter  again. 


Mrs.  Browning 


342  THE  VICTORIAN  AGE 

17.  The  Brownings  in  Italy.  Mrs.  Browning's  health  im- 
proved greatly  on  the  Continent  and,  although  she  enjoyed 
traveling  as  much  as  her  husband,  Florence  was  their  favorite 
home.  There  she  wrote  her  best-known  poems,  Casa  Guidi 
Windows  and  Aurora  Leigh.  She  was  also  the  author  of  a 
beautiful  sequence  of  love-sonnets  which  she  modestly  but 
incorrectly  described  as  Sonnets  from  the  Portuguese.  During 
these  happy  years  Browning  wrote  his  Christmas  Eve  and 
Easter  Day  (1850)  and  the  collection  of  short  poems  known 
as  Men  and  Women  (1855),  which  included  such  admirable 
pieces  as  Fra  Lippo  Lippi  and  Andrea  del  Sarto.  A  few 
years  later  Mrs.  Browning's  health  failed  and  she  died  in 
Florence  in  1861.  Thereafter  Browning  returned  to  London 
and  settled  in  Warwick  Crescent,  though  he  made  frequent 
trips  to  beloved  spots  in  France,  Switzerland,  and  Italy. 
Unlike  Tennyson,  he  was  fond  of  society  and  liked  to  make 
new  acquaintances. 

18.  The  Later  Works.  In  1864  Browning  published 
Dramatis  Personae,  which  contained  such  notable  poems  as 
Aht  Vogler,  Rabbi  Ben  Ezra,  and  Prospice.  Abt  Vogler  is 
an  exalted  rhapsody  on  the  intangible  art  of  music.  Rabbi 
Ben  Ezra  joyously  expresses  confidence  in  the  ultimate 
purpose  of  life.  It  is  an  optimist's  call  to  face  the  future 
with  head  erect: 

Grow  old  along  with  me! 

The  best  is  yet  to  be, 
The  last  of  life,  for  which  the  first  was  made: 

Our  times  are  in  His  hand 

Who  saith  *'  A  whole  I  planned, 
*'  Youth  shows  but  half;  trust  God:  see  all  nor  be  afraid." 

Four  years  later  Oxford  conferred  upon  him  an  honorary 
degree  and  Balliol  College  elected  him  an  Honorary  Fellow. 
He  had  several  opportunities  to  accept  the  Lord  Rectorship 
of  St.  Andrews  and  of  Glasgow  University,  but  declined  these 


ROBERT   BROWNING  343 

honors.  His  later  years  were  devoted  to  active  composition 
of  poetry.  His  most  ambitious  undertaking,  The  Ring  and 
the  Booh  (1868-1869),  is  a  vast  epic  poem  of  20,000  lines, 
growing  out  of  his  picking  up  by  chance  an' old  yellow  Latin 
volume  on  a  bookstall  in  Florence.  The  time-stained  book 
told  of  a  brutal  murder  committed  in  Rome  in  1698.  A 
certain  Guido  Franceschini  had  married  a  beautiful  girl 
Pompilia,  supposing  her  to  be  a  wealthy  heiress;  when  he 
learned  of  her  poverty  he  treated  her  so  shamefully  that 
she  fled  to  her  foster-parents.  There  the  wretched  husband 
sought  her  out  and  killed  her  and  her  foster-parents  as  well. 
Browning  studied  the  account  of  the  murderer's  trial  and 
from  it  developed  his  great  poem  in  which  the  story  of  the 
crime  is  told  nine  times  by  different  persons,  and  each  time 
the  narrative  takes  on  a  different  complexion,  typical  of 
the  knowledge  and  attitude  of  the  witness.  Not  many 
readers  may  be  tempted  to  take  up  a  poem  twice  as  long  as 
Paradise  Lost,  but  judicious  selections  from  The  Ring  and 
the  Book  will  repay  careful  study. 

After  1870  hardly  a  year  passed  that  did  not  witness  the 
publication  of  another  volume  of  verse  by  Browning.  Much 
of  his  later  work,  however,  is  abstruse,  rambling,  and  diflficult 
even  for  his  devoted  admirers.  Most  significant,  however, 
are  the  two  series  of  Dramatic  Idyls  (1879-1880),  in  which 
there  are  some  stirring  tales,  told  in  vigorous  verse.  Ivan 
Ivanovitch  tells  the  harrowing  story  of  a  Russian  mother 
who  threw  her  children  from  her  sledge  to  the  pursuing  wolves 
in  order  to  save  herself.  Clive  is  a  psychological  study  of 
fear,  based  on  an  incident  in  the  life  of  that  great  but  un- 
fortunate soldier.  Muleykeh  portrays  the  Arab's  pride  in. 
his  fine  horse  and  incidentally  reveals  Browning's  love  for 
horses.  His  last  volume,  Asolando  (1889),  was  published 
in  London  on  the  day  of  his  death  in  Venice.  On  the  last 
day  of  that  year  he  was  laid  to  rest  under  the  floor  of  Poets' 
Comer  in  Westminster  Abbey. 


344 


THE   VICTORIAN   AGE 


19.  The  Poetry  of  Browning.  When  Browning  was  a 
boy  he  once  declared  that  two  nightingales  singing  in  his 
father's  garden  were  the  souls  of  Shelley  and  Keats  who 
had  come  there  with  the  express  purpose  of  singing  for  his 
benefit.  If  they  were,  the  misguided  souls  were  wasting 
their  time,  for  never  did  poet  concern  himself  less  about  the 
musical  value  of  his  verse  than  Browning.  The  ruggedness 
of  his  lines  will  offend  the  ear  of  many  a  reader  accustomed 
to  the  sweet  harmonies  of  Shelley,  Keats,  and  Tennyson. 
Yet  there  is  a  virility  of  expression  that  compensates  in 

part  for  mere  smooth- 
ness, and  at  times  Brown- 
ing can  sing  as  sweetly 
as  any  of  them.  It  was 
far  from  his  intention  to 
write  entertaining  verse. 
He  felt  that  he  had  a 
message  for  mankind  and 
he  phrased  his  ideas  in 
his  own  ch  ar acter ist ic 
way.  No  English  poet 
showed  greater  subtlety 
of  thought.  His  so- 
called  obscurity  is  really 
a  fondness  for  broken  sentences  and  for  fantastic  digressions 
to  introduce  some  curious  unexpected  detail.  There  is  some- 
thing of  Carlyle's  philosophy  in  Browning's  glorification  of 
the  individual  will  battling  against  opposition  and  over- 
coming obstacles,  but  unlike  Carlyle,  Browning  reveals  a 
fine  spirit  of  optimism.  He  does  not  growl  and  scold  like 
the  dour  Scot,  but  illumines  his  message  with  radiant  hope. 
His  gospel  was  the  power  of  love  to  glorify  and  transfigure 
human  existence. 

Browning  was  at  his  best  in  the  dramatic  monologue,  in 
which  he  permitted   the  speaker,   quite   unconsciously  at 


Browning's  Home  in  Venice 


ROBERT   BROWNING  345 

times,  to  reveal  whatever  virtues  and  vices  were  within 
him.  Browning's  method  bore  out  the  popular  dictum 
that  most  men  will  tell  you  what  they  are  —  if  you  give 
them  a  chance.  Two  excellent  examples  of  this  form  are 
My  Last  Duchess  sind  Andrea  del  Sarto.  In  the  former  a 
haughty,  egotistic  Italian  nobleman,  about  to  wed  for  the 
second  time,  is  describing  his  first  wife  while  showing  her 
portrait  to  his  visitor.  Although  apparently  he  is  calling 
attention  to  her  shortcomings,  he  is  really  disclosing  his 
own  cruel  and  relentless  nature.  In  Andrea  del  Sarto  the 
"faultless  painter"  of  the  Renaissance  is  communing  with 
his  frivolous  wife,  trying  to  explain  his  failure  to  achieve  his 
ambitions.  He  likewise  makes  unconscious  revelations  of 
his  own  weakness : 

All  is  as  God  over-rules. 
Besides,  incentives  come  from  the  soul's  self; 
The  rest  avail  not.     Why  do  I  need  you? 
What  wife  had  Raphael,  or  has  Agnolo? 
In  this  world,  who  can  do  a  thing,  will  not; 
And  who  would  do  it,  cannot,  I  perceive: 
Yet  the  will's  somewhat  —  somewhat,  too,  the  power  — 
And  thus  we  half-men  struggle. 

Much  the  same  method  of  character  revelation  was  used  by 
Browning  in  the  long  speeches  which  he  accorded  to  the 
principal  personages  in  his  poetic  dramas. 

Tennyson  and  Browning  dominated  Victorian  poetry. 
Each  followed  his  own  bent,  regardless  of  the  other,  but 
with  appreciation  of  his  rival's  work.  Browning  dedicated 
a  volume  to  Tennyson,  and  Tennyson  returned  the  compli- 
ment. During  their  lifetime  they  had  their  zealous  cham- 
pions, and  to-day,  as  they  rest  side  by  side  in  Westminster 
Abbey,  there  are  still  partisans  who  try  to  determine  which 
was  the  greater  poet. 


346 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE 


MATTHEW   ARNOLD    (1822-1888) 

20.  Poet  and  Essayist.  Matthew  Arnold  was  born  in 
1822  at  Laleham  on  the  Thames,  a  few  miles  west  of  London. 
His  father  -was  the  famous  Dr.  Thomas  Arnold  of  Rugby, 
familiar  to  every  reader  of  Tom  Brown's  Schooldays,  and 
distinguished  also  as  a  historian  of  Greece.  Matthew  was 
sent  to  Winchester  School  and  to  Rugby  for  his  early  train- 
ing, and  at  the  age  of 
eighteen  he  entered  Balliol 
College,  Oxford.  At  the  Uni- 
versity he  made  a  good 
record,  winning  the  Newdi- 
gate  Prize  for  his  poem 
Cromwell.  After  taking  his 
degree  he  held  a  fellowship  at 
Oriel  College,  Oxford,  and 
later  became  secretary  to 
Lord  Lansdowne.  In  1851 
he  was  appointed  Lay  In- 
spector of  Schools  and  held 
that  uninspiring  position  for 
over  thirty  years.  He  made 
several  trips  to  Holland, 
France,  and  Germany  to 
study  the  school  systems  of  those  countries.  For  two  terms 
(1857-1867)  he  was  Professor  of  Poetry  at  Oxford.  Later 
in  life  he  became  a  public  lecturer  and  visited  America 
twice  on  lecture  tours.  He  died  in  1888  and  was  buried  at 
Laleham. 

Unlike  Tennyson  and  Browning,  Arnold  was  a  prose 
writer  as  well  as  a  poet.  His  critical  essays  are  among  the 
most  important  in  the  language,  but  they  belong  mostly  to 
his  later  literary  career.  His  principal  volume  of  Poems 
(1853)  contained  the  famous  story  of  Sohrab  and  Rustum 


Matthew  Arnold 


MATTHEW  ARNOLD  347 

translated  from  a  great  Persian  epic.  Arnold  took  the 
tragic  story  of  the  duel  between  a  father  and  a  son,  each 
unaware  of  the  other's  identity,  and  related  it  in  a  classic 
English  form  that  suggests  the  influence  of  Homer.  The 
long  sustained  similes  with  which  the  poem  abounds  are 
among  the  finest  in  English  poetry: 

But  as  a  troop  of  pedlers  from  Cabool 

Cross  underneath  the  Indian  Caucasus, 

That  vast  sky-neighboring  mountain  of  milk  snow; 

Crossing  so  high,  that,  as  they  mount,  they  pass    . 

Long  flocks  of  travelHng  birds  dead  on  the  snow. 

Choked  by  the  air,  and  scarce  can  they  themselves 

Slake  their  parched  throats  with  sugared  mulberries; 

In  single  file  they  move,  and  stop  their  breath. 

For  fear  they  should  dislodge  the  o'erhanging  snows,  — 

So  the  pale  Persians  held  their  breath  with  fear. 

Balder  Dead  is  another  fine  epic  and  is  based  on  the  Norse 
sagas.  After  the  death  of  Balder  the  gods  placed  his  body 
upon  a  funeral  ship  in  accord  with  Norse  tradition  and 
applied  the  torch  to  the  lofty  pyre  on  the  deck: 

And  the  ship  floated  on  the  waves,  and  rocked. 
But  in  the  hills  a  strong  east-wind  arose. 
And  came  down  moaning  to  the  sea;  first  squalls 
Ran  black  o'er  the  sea's  face,  then  steady  rushed 
The  breeze,  and  filled  the  sails,  and  blew  the  fire. 
And  wreathed  in  smoke  the  ship  stood  out  to  sea. 
Soon  with  a  roaring  rose  the  mighty  fire. 
And  the  pile  crackled;  and  between  the  logs 
Sharp  quivering  tongues  of  flame  shot  out,  and  leapt, 
Curling  and  darting,  higher,  until  they  licked 
The  summit  of  the  pile,  the  dead,  the  mast. 
And  ate  the  shrivelling  sails;  but  still  the  ship 
Drove  on,  ablaze  above  her  hull  with  fire. 
And  the  gods  stood  upon  the  beach,  and  gazed. 
And  while  they  stood,  the  sun  went  lurid  down 
Into  the  smoke-wrapt  sea,  and  night  came  on. 

His  shorter  poems    include    The  Scholar  Gypsy,  dealing 
with   Oxford   life   and   intellectual   ideals,   and    Thyrsis,  a 


348 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE 


lament  on  the  death  of  his  friend  and  fellow-poet  Arthur 
Hugh  Clough.  Dover  Beach  is  an  attempt  to  read  the 
message  of  the  eternal  sea  and  is  typical  of  the  spirit  of  doubt 
that  crept  into  religion  about  the  middle  of  the  century. 
Rugby  Chapel  was  written  under  the  spell  of  a  bleak  winter 
afternoon  while  he  stood  by  his  father's  grave  in  the  chapel 
of  that  famous  old  school. 

Among  the  earlier  prose  works  were  his  essays,  On  Trans- 
lating Homer  (1861)  and  On  the  Study  of  Celtic  Literature 
(1867),  which  were  both  delivered  as  lectures  at  Oxford. 
His  important   Essays  in   Criticism   (1865;    second  series, 

1888)  included  a  signifi- 
cant paper,  llie  Func- 
tion of  Criticism  at  the 
Present  Time,  which 
was  the  most  distinctive 
critical  utterance  since 
the  days  of  Coleridge. 
There  are  also  in  these 
two  volumes  several 
notable  studies  of  great 
writers.  The  value  of 
these  essays  entitles 
Arnold  to  rank  as  the 
leading  literary  critic  of 
the  Victorian  age.  He  wrote  largely  under  the  inspiration 
of  Sainte-Beuve,  the  great  French  critic  of  that  period. 

21.  Significance  of  Arnold.  In  his  poetry  Arnold  stands 
for  classic  form  and  tradition;  in  his  prose,  for  suave  in- 
telligence and  critical  insight.  Although  he  was  outwardly 
successful  in  imitating  in  his  verse  the  manner  of  his  classical 
models,  he  often  lacked  the  emotional  quality  that  is  essential 
to  great  poetry.  In  the  delicate  refinement  of  his  polished 
lines  we  miss  the  sturdy  vigor  of  Browning  and  the  fine 
lyrical  strain  of  Tennyson.    It  now  seems  likely  that  Arnold 


t»m^  t 


Oriel  College,  Oxford 


DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTI 


349 


will  be  more  highly  regarded  for  his  contributions  to  literary 
criticism  than  for  his  poetry.  His  essays  are  characterized 
by  a  lucid,  clear-cut  style,  but  we  note  at  times  a  lack  of 
personal  sympathy  and  of  genuine  interest  in  the  topics 
discussed.  We  admire  the  intellectual  quality  and  the 
uroanity  of  Arnold,  but  we  are  not  usually  eager  to  know 
him  better  as  a  man.  The  austerity  and  detachment  of  his 
manner  both  will  tend  to  minimize  his  future  influence  in 
literature. 

22.  Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti  (1828-1882)  was  the  son  of  an 
Italian  political  refugee  who  fled  to  England  after  the  failure 
of  an  uprising  in  Naples. 
Rossetti  was  born  in  London 
and  received  an  elementary 
education  at  King's  College 
School.  He  then  took  up 
the  study  of  art  and  at 
twenty-one  exhibited  his  first 
painting,  "The  Girlhood  of 
Mary  Virgin."  In  1848  he 
joined  Hoi  man  Hunt  and 
Thomas  Woolner  in  organiz- 
ing the  Pre-Raphaelite 
Brotherhood,  which  upheld 
the  revolt  against  conven- 
tionaUty  in  painting  that  had 
crept  in  under  the  influence 

of  Raphael  and  later  masters.  The  Brotherhood  stood 
for  simplicity  and  for  the  naturalness  that  had  charac- 
terized Italian  art  before  the  period  of  Raphael.  They 
started  a  Httle  magazine  called  The  Germ  (1850)  to  further 
their  ideas,  but  only  four  issues  appeared.  In  1860  Rossetti 
married  Elizabeth  Eleanor  Siddal,  who  had  been  his  model 
for  many  of  the  paintings  that  are  now  familiar.  Two 
years  later  his  wife  died  and  Rossetti,  under  the  stress  of 


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Dante  G.  Rossetti 


350  THE  VICTORIAN  AGE 

grief,  buried  in  her  coflSn  the  copy  of  all  his  unpublished 
poems.  Eight  years  later  the  grave  was  opened  and  the 
poems  were  taken  out  and  published.  The  incident  gave  a 
sensational  notoriety  to  the  volume,  which  appeared  in 
1870.  The  poems  were  harshly  criticized  in  an  article  en- 
titled The  Fleshly  School  of  Poetry y  which  appeared  in  The 
Contemporary  Review.  Rossetti  was  deeply  affected  by  the 
criticism  and  became  more  retiring  than  ever  in  his  habits. 
He  made  interesting  translations  from  the  Italian,  published 
as  Dante  and  His  Circle  (1874),  and  in  1881  he  issued  his 
Ballads  and  Sonnets.  Some  of  his  best  work  is  found  in 
such  romantic  ballads  as  The  King*s  Tragedy,  The  White 
Ship,  and  Sister  Helen.  His  finest  imaginative  poem  is 
The  Blessed  Damozel.  A  beautiful  sonnet-sequence  called 
The  House  of  Life  contains  some  unusually  fine  love-sonnets. 
No  other  Victorian  poet,  with  the  possible  exception  of 
Mrs.  Browning,  showed  the  same  command  of  the  sonnet 
form  as  Rossetti.  During  his  later  years  Rossetti  suffered 
from  insomnia  and  acquired  the  unfortunate  habit  of  taking 
chloral.  He  lived  in  almost  complete  seclusion  until  his 
death  in  1882. 

His  sister,  Christina  Rossetti  (1830-1894),  was  also  a  poet 
of  distinction  whose  work  was  much  appreciated.  Her  best 
poems  are  Goblin  Market  (1862)  and  her  sonnets.  His 
brother,  William  Michael  Rossetti  (1829-1919),  was  an  essayist 
and  critic  who  edited  numerous  books  including  memoirs 
and  anecdotes  of  his  more  famous  sister  and  brother,  whom 
he  survived  by  many  years. 

23.  William  Morris  (1834-1896)  was  born  at  Waltham- 
stow,  near  London,  and  educated  at  Marlborough  College 
and  at  Exeter  College,  Oxford.  While  there  he  was  influenced 
by  the  work  of  Rossetti.  He  took  up  the  study  of  painting 
and  architecture,  but  soon  devoted  himself  to  the  varied 
arts  that  are  concerned  with  interior  decoration.  Not  the 
least  of  his  claims  to  recognition  is  the  fact  that  he  designed 


WILLIAM  MORRIS 


351 


the  popular  *' Morris  chair."  He  lectured  widely  on  art  and 
literature  and  became  known  as  a  writer  on  socialistic 
subjects.  His  facile  pen  turned 
out  poetry  and  prose  of  every 
description.  His  best  known 
poems  are  The  Defense  of 
Guenevere  (1858),  The  Life  and 
Death  of  Jason  (1867),  and  a 
series  of  versified  stories  called 
The  Earihly  Paradise  (1868- 
1870).  These  include  some  of 
the  most  popular  legends  in 
mythology.  Among  his  many 
translations  are  the  Aeneid 
(1875),  the  Odyssey  (1887),  and 
various  Teutonic  sagas,  includ- 
ing Sigurd  the  Volsung  (1876) 
and  Beowulf  (1895).  In  1891 
he  estabhshed  the  Kelmscott 
Press  in  London  and  printed  some  of  the  most  beautiful 
of  modern  books. 

Morris  earned  the 
gratitude  of  mankind  for 
his  practical  labors  in 
bringmg  beauty  into 
commonplace  homes. 
Instead  of  writing  in- 
effectual articles  glorify- 
ing the  beautiful  in  art, 
he  set  to  work  to  banish 
hideous   wall-paper   and 

T?^^+^«  n  11        rw    ,  glaring     chromos     from 

Exeter  College,  Oxford  -^^      ,."  „  ,,      „ 

Lnghsh  walls  and  badly 

designed  furniture  from  English  homes.     He  showed  that 
good  taste  in  home  furnishings  was  not  a  prerogative  of  the 


William  Morris 


352 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE 


wealthy.  He  wrote  charming  stories  and  made  many  of  them 
into  beautiful  books.  The  one  regret  is  that  he  wasted  so 
much  of  his  valuable  time  upon  untenable  theories  of  social 
reform.  He  labored  incessantly  for  the  uplift  of  the  masses 
and  for  the  recognition  of  nobler  ideals  of  living.  As  a  teller 
of  tales  he  shows  close  kinship  with  Chaucer;  as  a  social 
reformer  he  maintained  many  of  the  theories  expounded  by 
Ruskin.  Most  of  Morris's  work  is  characterized  by  pure 
beauty  and  a  desire  to  achieve  the  best  for  mankind. 

24.   Algernon  Charles  Swinburne  (1837-1909)  was  bom 
in  Belgravia,  a  fashionable  quarter  of  London.     His  father 

was  Admiral  Swinburne  of  the 
British  Navy;  his  mother  was 
the  daughter  of  the  Earl  of 
Ashburnham.  The  family  was 
wealthy  and  possessed  an  estate 
on  the  Isle  of  Wight.  He  was 
educated  at  Eton  College  and 
at  Balliol  College,  Oxford,  where 
he  became  one  of  a  distinctly 
literary  group.  He  left  Oxford 
after  three  years'  residence 
without  taking  a  degree.  For  a 
time  he  lived  in  Cheyne  Walk, 
Chelsea,  in  the  same  house  with 
Rossetti  and  Meredith,  and 
not  far  from  the  home  of 
Carlyle.  He  published  two  poetic  dramas,  The  Queen 
Mother  and  Rosamund  (1860),  which  he  dedicated  to  Ros- 
setti. In  the  following  year  he  visited  Italy  and  met 
Landor,  who  was  then  in  his  eighty-sixth  year.  His  next 
work,  Atalanta  in  Calydon  (1865),  is  a  superb  example  of 
Greek  drama  in  English  verse.  The  choruses  in  this  drama 
include  some  of  the  most  fluent  and  most  musical  passages 
in  modern  poetry.    Chastelard  (1866)  was  the  first  of  a  trilogy 


A.  C.  Swinburne 


ALGERNON  CHARLES  SWINBURNE 


353 


of  poetic  plays  dealing  with  the  romantic  story  of  Mary, 
Queen  of  Scots.  The  other  plays  are  Bothwell  (1874)  and 
Mary  Stuart  (1881).  His  Poems  and  Ballads  (1866)  offended 
some  readers  who  approved  of  the  sharp  attacks  that  were 
made  a  few  years  later  on  *'The  Fleshly  School."  Among 
his  other  important  volumes  of  verse  were  Songs  of  Italy 
(1867),  Songs  before  Sunrise  (1871),  and  Tristram  of  Lyonesse 
(1882).  He  also  wrote  critical  prose  studies  of  Hugo,  Blake, 
Ben  Jonson,  and  Shakespeare,  but  these  estimates  were  so 
extravagant  in  their  praise  or  blame  that  they  are  not  safe 
guides.  Upon  Tennyson's  death  in  1892  Swinburne  was  the 
most  distinguished  Uving  poet  and  would  undoubtedly  have 
been  chosen  Poet  Laureate  had  it  not  been  for  the  pagan 
spirit  of  his  earlier  poems.  He  died  in  1909  and  was  buried 
on  the  Isle  of  Wight. 

Swinburne  is  notable  above  all  else  for  the  musical  quality 
of  his  verse  and  for  his  metrical  facility.  He  went  beyond 
all  other  poets  in  sub- 
ordinating sense  to 
sound.  In  fact,  his 
ideas  are  often  lost  en- 
tirely in  a  welter  of 
words.  None  of  the 
other  poets  approached 
his  fine  skill  in  the 
more  difficult  verse 
forms,  especially  in  long 
dactylic  or  anapestic 
lines.  He  frequently 
showed  perfect  ease  in 
meters  that  others  did  not  even  venture  to  try.  In  spite  of 
his  lyrical  dexterity,  however,  Swinburne  is  not  a  popular 
poet  and  never  will  be.  He  was  more  akin  to  Shelley  than 
to  Browning  or  Tennyson,  but  he  was  far  behind  Shelley  in 
the  art  of  coordinating  his  ideas  with  his  chosen  form.     His 


Balliol  College,    Oxford 


354  THE   VICTORIAN  AGE 

fondness  for  excessive  alliteration  and  for  unusual  rhythms 
has  been  frequently  mentioned,  but  Swinburne  did  not 
make  any  notable  contribution  to  the  poetry  that  finds  its 
way  into  the  heart  and  is  not  forgotten. 

25.  Other  Victorian  Poets.  Other  notable  poets  con- 
tributed in  varying  degree  to  the  literary  glory  of  the  Vic- 
torian age.  They  represent  a  wide  range  of  influences  and 
illustrate  the  increasing  diversity  of  interests  in  modern 
literature. 

Edward  Fitzgerald  (1809-1883),  a  Cambridge  graduate, 
was  a  friend  of  Tennyson.  He  made  important  translations 
from  the  Spanish  and  the  Greek,  but  is  principally  known 
for  his  EngHsh  version  (1859)  of  the  Rubaiyat  written  by 
Omar  Khayyam,  the  Persian  astronomer-poet.  The  book 
was  virtually  ignored  when  it  first  appeared,  and  the  copies 
were  sold  for  a  few  pence  each  on  the  bookstalls.  Rossetti 
was  the  first  to  call  attention  to  the  unusual  quality  of  the 
work.  To-day  it  is  one  of  the  treasured  first  editions  so 
highly  prized  by  collectors,  and  Fitzgerald's  rendering  of  the 
Rubaiyat  is  among  the  most  popular  volumes  of  modern 
poetry.  The  Rubaiyat  are  quatrains,  each  one  more  or  less 
complete  in  .itself,  voicing  some  bit  of  Oriental  philo^phy, 
some  cynical  commentary  on  the  queer  turns  of  fate,  or 
some  reflection  of  the  impulse  to  make  the  most  of  the 
sensuous  joys  of  life.  The  spirit  of  the  Caroline  Poets  is 
voiced  again  —  with  a  difference  —  in 

Come,  fill  the  Cup,  and  in  the  fire  of  Spring 
Your  Winter-garment  of  Repentance  fling: 

The  Bird  of  Time  has  but  a  little  way 
To  flutter  —  and  the  Bird  is  on  the  Wing. 

The  most  familiar  of  the  quatrains  is 

A  Book  of  Verses  underneath  the  Bough, 
A  Jug  of  Wine,  a  Loaf  of  Bread  —  and  Thou 

Beside  me  singing  in  the  Wilderness  — 
Oh,  Wilderness  were  Paradise  enow! 


OTHER   VICTORIAN  POETS  355 

Arthur  Hugh  Clough  (1819-1861)  was  educated  at  Rugby 
and  at  Oxford.  He  became  the  close  friend  of  Arnold  and 
was  the  subject  of  that  poet's  elegy  Thyrsis.  His  work 
achieved  much  of  its  reputation  tlu'ough  his  association  with 
Arnold,  but  it  is  no  longer  widely  read.  His  Bothie  of  Tober- 
na-Vuolich  (1848)  is  a  pastoral  poem  in  classical  hexameters 
relating  the  experiences  of  a  vacation  ramble  in  Wales. 

Austin  Dobson  (1840-  )  was  born  in  Plymouth  and 
during  most  of  his  life  was  connected  with  the  London 
Board  of  Trade.  He  was  especially  interested  in  the  litera- 
ture of  the  eighteenth  century  and  imitated  classical  models 
in  his  own  charming  verses,  which  appeared  as  Vignettes  in 
Rhyme  (1873),  Proverbs  in  Porcelain  (1877),  Old  World 
Idylls  (1883),  and  At  the  Sign  of  the  Lyre  (1885).  He  also 
wrote  numerous  biographical  and  critical  works  concerning 
eighteenth  century  authors. 

Andrew  Lang  (1844-1912),  a  Scotchman,  was  educated  at 
St.  Andrews  and  at  Oxford,  and  became  noted  for  the  broad 
range  of  his  interests  and  his  enormous  literary  output. 
Among  his  poems  are  Ballads  and  Lyrics  of  Old  France 
(1872),  Ballads  in  Blue  China  (1880),  and  Helen  of  Troy 
(1880).  It  would  be  impossible  to  enumerate  here  even  the 
best  of  his  fiction,  history,  essays,  folk-lore,  and  other 
publications. 

William  Ernest  Henley  (1849-1903)  was  born  in  Gloucester 
and  received  a  grammar  school  education.  While  ill  in  an 
Edinburgh  hospital  he  met  Stevenson  and  established  a 
friendship  of  long  duration.  They  wrote  several  plays 
together,  but  these  efforts  were  unsuccessful.  For  many 
years  Henley  was  an  editor  in  London  and  made  numerous 
enemies  by  his  uncompromising  attitude.  His  principal 
works  are  his  Book  of  Verses  (1888),  Views  and  Reviews 
(1890),  and  Song  of  the  Sward  (1892).  His  Lyra  Heroica, 
a  collection  of  poems  for  young  readers,  has  always  been 
popular.    He  also  edited  the  works  of  Burns  and  Byron. 


356  THE  VICTORIAN  AGE 

John  Davidson  (1857-1909)  was  a  Scotchman  who  became 
a  teacher  and  later  a  journalist.  He  wrote  bitterly  satirical 
poems  and  plays.  Among  his  best  known  works  are  Bruce, 
a  Chronicle  Play  (1886),  Smith,  a  Tragic  Farce  (1888), 
In  a  Music  Hall  (1891),  Fleet  Street  Eclogues  (1893),  and 
New  Ballads  (1897).  He  suffered  much  from  poverty,  ill- 
health,  and  lack  of  appreciation.  In  1909  he  ended  his 
unhappy  career  by  committing  suicide. 

Sir  William  Watson  (1858-  )  was  born  in  Yorkshire 
and  began  to  write  poetry  at  an  early  age.  Among  his 
best  poems  are  Wordsworth^s  Grave  (1890)  and  Lachrymae 
Musarum  (1892),  an  elegy  on  Tennyson,  whom  he  expected 
to  succeed  as  Poet  Laureate.  He  criticized  the  English 
government  severely  in  The  Purple  East  (1896)  and  The 
Year  of  Shame  (1896).  His  short  poem.  The  Woman  with 
the  Serpenfs  Tongue  (1909),  brought  him  more  notoriety 
than  fame. 

Francis  Thompson  (1859-1907)  was  born  in  Lancashire 
and  educated  at  Owens  College,  Manchester.  Like  David- 
son, he  had  a  most  depressing  struggle  with  poverty.  He 
contributed  literary  criticism  to  the  weekly  papers,  but 
scarcely  earned  enough  to  sustain  life.  His  best  work 
is  contained  in  three  slender  volumes:  Poems  (1893),  Sister 
Songs  (1895),  and  New  Poems  (1897).  His  poems  on  child- 
hood and  his  Hound  of  Heaven  possess  enduring  quality. 
Much  of  his  work  is  mystical  in  character  and  is  noted  for 
its  exquisite  phrasing  and  memorable  passages. 


THE   VICTORIAN   NOVEL 

26.  A  Dominant  Literary  Form.  In  no  other  field  of 
literature  did  the  distinctive  tendencies  of  the  Victorian 
age  reveal  their  influence  quite  so  strongly  as  in  the  novel. 
The  romantic  fiction  that  had  been  popularized  by  Scott 
gave  way  to  novels  of  another  sort.    There  was  quick  recog- 


CHARLES   DICKENS  357 

nition  of  the  fact  that  a  novel  could  do  more  than  merely 
entertain  the  reader  by  affording  pastime  for  an  idle  hour. 
It  became  a  vehicle  for  social  or  political  reform.  The 
"problem  novel"  or  the  "novel  of  purpose"  soon  became 
familiar.  For  the  glamor  of  the  older  romance  was  sub- 
stituted a  cold  realism  that  put  the  facts  strongly  before  the 
reader  and  sought  to  enlist  his  sympathy  or  cooperation 
in  the  particular  matter  at  hand.  Virtually  every  subject 
that  concerned  the  spiritual  or  material  welfare  of  mankind 
was  presented  in  the  fiction  of  the  period,  with  the  evident 
intention  of  molding  public  opinion.  All  the  forms  of  story- 
writing  that  had  been  practiced  by  DeFoe,  Richardson, 
Fielding,  Walpole,  Mrs.  Radcliffe,  and  the  rest  were  continued 
and  broadened  in  scope.  Of  course,  there  were  also  romances 
in  the  manner  of  Scott,  and  historical  fiction  was  essayed 
at  times  by  nearly  all  the  leading  Victorian  novelists,  but 
it  was  really  the  quiet,  unpretentious  example  of  Jane 
Austen  and  not  the  showy  pageantry  of  Sir  Walter  that 
set  the  chief  model  for  the  age. 


CHARLES   DICKENS   (1812-1870) 

27.  A  Drab  Background.  Charles  Dickens  was  born  at 
Landport,  near  Portsmouth,  in  1812,  as  the  son  of  John 
Dickens,  a  poorly  paid  clerk  in  the  Navy  Pay  Office.  Charles 
was  the  second  of  eight  children  and  had  a  rather  squalid 
boyhood.  When  he  was  nine  years  old  the  family  moved 
to  London  in  the  hope  of  better  conditions,  but  within  a 
year  the  unfortunate  father  was  in  the  Debtors'  Prison. 
Charles  found  employment  in  a  blacking  factory,  where  he 
pasted  labels  on  bottles.  On  Sundays  he  visited  his  father 
in  the  Marshalsea  Prison.  As  a  boy  Dickens  read  in  his 
spare  moments  all  the  books  he  could  lay  hands  on,  and 
particularly  enjoyed  the  novels  of  Smollett.  Later,  when  the 
fortunes  of  the  family  improved,  he  became  a  solicitor's 


358 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE 


clerk.  After  learning  shorthand,  in  which  he  acquired 
great  proficiency,  he  became  a  reporter  on  The  Morning 
Chronicle  and  received  the  usual  assignments  to  gather 
news  items  for  his  paper.  During  those  years  of  varied 
experiences  on  the  streets  of  London,  Dickens  learned  many 
things  that  the  ordinary  man  never  gets  to  know.    He^saw 

much  of  the  degrada- 
tion and  squalor  of 
poverty,  but  he  also 
observed  the  lighter  side 
of  existence  among  the 
lowly. 

28.  The  Rise  to 
Fame.  His  first  book, 
Sketches  by  Boz  (1836), 
was  a  series  of  short 
pieces  collected  from  his 
newspaper  contribu- 
tions. He  married 
Catharine  Hogarth  in 
the  same  year,  but  his 
married  life  was  not 
happy,  and  during  their 
later  years  Dickens  and 
his  wife  separated. 
About  the  time  of  his  marriage  he  was  commissioned  by  a 
publisher  to  write  little  sketches  to  accompany  drawings 
by  the  artist  Seymour.  Afler  a  few  numbers  had  been 
issued,  Seymour  committed  suicide,  and  the  publisher  wisely 
decided  that  the  new  artist  should  make  the  drawings  to 
accompany  Dickens's  sketches.  Among  the  unsuccessful 
applicants  for  the  honor  was  Thackeray.  The  completed 
work  appeared  as  The  Pickwick  Papers  (1837),  and  achieved 
one  of  the  greatest  successes  in  literary  history.  It  was 
boldly  and  widely  imitated  by  a  host  of  jealous,  unscrupulous 


Charles  Dickens 


CHARLES   DICKENS  359 

writers  who  were  not  above  filching  the  work  or  the  ideas 
of  a  popular  rival.  The  Pickwick  Papers  recounted  the  droll 
adventures  of  Mr.  Pickwick  and  his  three  intimate  friends. 
It  was  entertaining  from  the  first,  but  when  Sam  Weller 
was  introduced,  with  his  facetious  sayings  and  remarkable 
similes,  Dickens  became  the  most  popular  writer  of  the 
day.  His  rise  to  fame  was  almost  startling  in  its  rapidity. 
The  public  clamored  for  more  of  his  work,  and  Dickens, 
who  had  acquired  the  journalist's  faciHty  in  composition, 
rapidly  produced  a  series  of  novels  that  enhanced  his  popu- 
larity. Oliver  Tvyist  (1838)  is  a  novel  of  human  depravity 
in  which  Dickens  emphasized  the  tragedy  of  life  quite  as 
effectively  as  in  The  Pickwick  Payers  he  had  stressed  its 
comedy.  He  gave  horrified  Londoners  certain  glimpses  of 
their  city  that  were  new  to  them  and  made  many  realize 
the  menace  of  the  slum.  Nicholas  Nickleby  (1839),  although 
written  in  a  less  somber  vem,  directed  attention  to  the  ill- 
treatment  accorded  to  children  in  some  of  the  badly  managed 
boarding  schools.  England  at  first  questioned  the  fidelity 
of  Dickens's  descriptions  and  even  accused  him  of  wilful 
misrepresentation  to  gain  a  larger  audience,  but  on  investiga- 
tion it  was  found  that  Mr.  Wackford  Squeers  was  by  no 
means  a  fanciful  creation.  There  is  much  good  fun  as  well 
as  pathos  in  the  book,  for  Dickens  knew  better  than  to  paint . 
a-picture  of  unrelieved  gloom.  Old  Curiosity  Shop  (1840) 
tells  the  sad  story  of  Little  Nell  and  her  unfortunate  grand- 
father, a  victim  of  a  mania  for  gambling.  In  this  story 
Dickens  introduced  the  hideous  dwarf  Quilp,  one  of  the 
most  repulsive  of  all  his  characters. 

29.  Dickens  in  America.  The  fame  of  Dickens  spread 
in  America  almost  as  rapidly  as  in  England.  Dishonest 
publishers  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  pirated  his  books 
without  hindrance,  as  the  copyright  laws  of  that  time  did 
not  protect  an  author  against  such  knavery.  Dickens  visited 
America  for  the  first  time  in  1842,  but  was  not  favorably 


360  THE  VICTORIAN  AGE 

impressed  by  what  he  saw.  Upon  his  return  to  England 
he  brought  out  his  American  Notes  (1842),  in  which  he 
sharply  criticized  American  manners  and  customs.  Doubt- 
less much  that  he  said  about  American  society  of  that 
remote  day  was  true,  but  the  book  gave  offense  and  for  a 
time  impaired  his  popularity  almost  as  much  as  it  did  his 
reputation  for  good  manners.  His  next  book,  Martin 
Chuzzlewit  (1844),  abounds  in  good  humor  and  at  the  same 
time  is  an  admirable  sermon  against  selfishness  and  hy- 
pocrisy. Once  more  he  satirized  Americans  as  well  as 
Englishmen,  and  raised  another  vehement  storm  of  protest. 
Apart  from  the  exaggerations  of  the  American  chapters, 
Martin  Chuzzlewit  is  one  of  his  most  entertaining  stories. 
No  reader  is  likely  to  forget  Mrs.  Gamp  or  the  sleek  Peck- 
sniff, whose  very  name  is  a  stroke  of  genius.  In  1843  Dickens 
began  a  series  of  Christmas  Stories  which  were  written 
annually  for  the  holiday  season.  The  best  of  these  are  A 
Christmas  Carol  (1843),  The  Chimes  (1844),  and  The  Cricket 
on  the  Hearth  (1845).  The  first,  which  was  deservedly  the 
most  popular,  still  brings  home  to  its  many  admirers  the 
need  for  kindly  sympathy  and  generosity  toward  those  in 
affliction.  The  world  is  not  yet  rid  of  its  Scrooges,  and 
we  can  do  a  public  service  if  we  can  persuade  them  to  read 
A  Christmas  Carol. 

30.  The  Masterpieces.  The  finest  of  Dickens's  novels 
are  those  of  his  middle  age.  He  conquered  some  of  his 
earlier  faults  of  exaggeration  and  extravagant,  melodramatic 
effect,  and  paid  more  attention  to  the  development  of  his 
plot.  Dombey  and  Son  (1848)  was  written  in  Switzerland 
and  is  one  of  the  most  enjoyable  of  his  books.  It  is  an 
impressive  tale  of  the  humiliation  of  pride  that  fails  to  reckon 
with  fate.  David  Copperfield  (1850)  was  Dickens's  own 
favorite  among  his  works,  and  the  popular  verdict  has  ap- 
proved his  choice.  It  is  the  most  definitely  autobiographical 
^  his  novels  and  is  more  carefully  written  than  the  others. 


CHARLES   DICKENS 


361 


Nowhere  else  is  his  pathos  so  sincere  nor  his  humor  so  in- 
fectious and  well-balanced.  With  varied  emotions  we  recall 
such  figures  as  Dora  and  little  Em*ly,  Uriah  Heep  and  Steer- 
forth,  Barkis  and  Mr.  Dick,  and,  most  memorable  of  all, 
Mr.  Wilkins  Micawber,  always  waiting  for  something  to 
"turn  up."  Dickens's  father  was  the  original  for  that 
quaint,  impractical  optimist.  Various  other  persons  who 
figured  in  Dickens's  life  have  been  immortalized  in  this 
story,  which  he  wrote 
out  of  the  fulness  of  his 
heart.  At  no  later  time 
did  he  again  rise  to  such 
heights  in  his  literary 
art.  Bleak  House  (1S52) 
stressed  the  unreasona- 
ble delays  of  English 
chancery  courts  and  the 
injustice  of  protracted 
litigation.  Some  critics 
regard  it  as  the  most 
carefully  planned  of  his 
novels,  but  contend  that  his  attempts  to  delineate  the 
aristocratic  characters  of  the  story  were  less  successful  than 
his  many  fine  portrayals  of  persons  in  low  life. 

In  1856  Dickens  bought  a  property  at  Gadshill  in  Kent 
and  settled  there  four  years  later.  He  began  to  give  public 
readings  from  his  works  and  earned  large  sums  by  these 
recitals,  but  they  proved  to  be  a  serious  drain  on  his  vitality. 
In  his  next  novel.  Little  Darrit  (1857),  he  laid  bare  the  in- 
iquities of  the  Debtors'  Prison,  which  had  figured  so  largely 
in  his  own  early  experiences.  This  story  was  the  first  to 
arouse  harsh  criticism  for  its  intrinsic  defects ;  many  readers 
detected  in  its  loosely  strung  plot  the  first  evidences  of  the 
author's  intellectual  weariness.  A  Tale  of  Two  Cities  (1859) 
was  the  most  successful  of  his  historical  novels,  although 


Gadshill 


362  THE  VICTORIAN  AGE 

the  critics  do  not  agree  as  to  its  merits.  There  is  little 
humor  and  some  melodrama,  but  we  cannot  lightly  forget 
Sidney  Carton's  supreme  sacrifice,  or  the  grim  picture  of 
Madame  Defarge  knitting  in  the  shadow  of  the  guillotine 
and  calmly  counting  the  heads  as  they  fall.  Great  Expecta- 
tions (1861)  is  considerably  shorter  than  most  of  Dickens's 
novels  and  is  irregular  in  quality.  It  was  written  after  a 
period  of  rest  and  showed  occasional  flashes  of  his  earlier 
manner.  Our  Mutual  Friend  (1865)  was  his  last  important 
novel.  His  readers  shuddered  at  the  ghastly  first  chapter, 
but  they  read  on  to  their  great  delight  as  they  were  introduced 
to  another  varied  group  of  amusing  social  caricatures. 

During  the  winter  of  1867-1868  Dickens  made  a  second 
tour  of  the  United  States  to  give  readings  from  his  works. 
His  early  tactlessness  was  forgotten  or  overlooked.  His 
progress  from  city  to  city  was  in  the  nature  of  a  notable 
personal  triumph.  He  returned  to  England  with  extremely 
large  profits,  but  with  his  vitality  seriously  impaired  by  the 
strain  of  his  numerous  public  appearances.  He  was  at  work 
on  a  novel  entitled  The  Mystery  of  Edwin  Drood  when 
he  died  suddenly  at  Gadshill  in  1870.  Several  attempts 
have  been  made  by  later  writers  and  critics  to  solve  the 
remarkable  problems  involved  in  the  complicated  plot. 
Unfortunately  the  story  had  not  reached  the  point  where 
the  author's  intention  could  be  surmised,  and  the  fragment 
remains"  good  material  for  those  who  like  to  exercise  their 
wits  in  solving  literary  mysteries.  Dickens  was  buried  in 
Westminster  Abbey  and  was  thus  accorded  an  almost 
unique  distinction  among  English  novelists. 

31.  Dickens  as  a  Novelist.  In  the  varied  experiences 
that  came  into  Dickens's  life  he  became  acquainted  with 
every  social  group,  but  he  was  always  at  his  best  in  the 
description  of  the  middle-class  and  low  life  of  London. 
"Tlis  obligation  to  Smollett  is  obvious.  Both  novelists  had^ 
aT  fondness  for  emphasizing  a  type  to  the  limits  of  exaggera- 


CHARLES  DICKENS  363 

tion,  thereby  making  their  persons  mere  caricatures.  Hence 
we  may  find  much  realism  in  Dickens,  yet  Httle  sense  of 
reahty.  His  indignation  led  him  to  throw  such  characters 
as  Squeers,  Pecksniff,  Heep,  Fagin,  Sykes,  and  Quilp  into 
bold  relief  so  that  they  typify  some  personified  vice  or 
human  failing.  His  fondness  for  detail  was  so  pronounced^ 
that  tliere  is  in  all  literature  no  more  remarkable  portrait 
gallery  than  we  find  in  his  novels.  His  humor  and  pathos 
run  side  by  side.  Readers  who  roared  with  laughter  over 
Sam  Weller,  Dick  Swiveller,  and  Wilkins  Micawber  were 
quite  as  ready  to  weep  over  Tiny  Tim,  Little  Nell,  or  Paul 
Dombey.  Dickens  spared  no  effort  in  his  pathetic  scene§i_ 
and  willingly  admitted  any  detail  that  might  win  another 
tear  from  his  reader.  However,  no  author  did  more  than 
Dickens  to  win  sympathy  for  children  in  all  walks  of  life.^ 
His  tenderness  for  the  young  is  a  trait  that  he  shares  with 
some  of  the  greatest  writers  in  literature. 

In  his  early  work  there  was  frequently  a  humane  motive 
underlying  his  fiction.  He  sought  to  break  up  the  condi-- 
tipns  that  fostered  criminal  life  among  the  young,  to  expose 
the  vicious  boarding-school  system,  the  evils  of  the  Debtors' 
Prison,  and  the  cruel  delays  of  the  law.  His  protest  was  the 
universal  cry  of  intelligent  mankind  against  the  unnecessary 
evils  of  civilization.  Judged  coldly  by  the  impartial  literary 
critic,  Ij^ickens's  style  is  far  from  commendable.  He  had 
acquired  a  smart  journalistic  manner  and  he  wrote  rapidly 
with  little  regard  for  the  niceties  of  expression.  Ilis^  plots 
were  not  well  constructed,  because  most  of  his  novels  were 
^issued  in  parts,  and  Dickens  permitted  the  story  to  spin 
itself  and  to  provide  a  succession  of  climaxes  as  he  went 
along.  When  the  end  of  the  story  drew  near,  he  brought  all 
the  threads  of  his  narrative  together,  but  not  always  very 
effectively.  In  spite  of  all  this,  his  popularity  continues 
unabated  and  is  likely  to  last  indefinitely  for  reasons  quite 
apart  from  sheer  literary  merit.     The  appeal  of  Dickens  is 


364 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE 


primarily  to  the  basic  instincts  of  the  great  mass  of  humanity 
—  he  knew  what  people  Hked  and  wrote  accordingly.  He 
portrayed  most  entertainingly  the  life  that  they  knew  or 
wanted  to  know  about.  He  made  them  laugh  and  he  made 
them  cry;  the  man  who  can  do  either  or  both  will  not  be 
without  his  reward. 


WILLIAM   MAKEPEACE   THACKERAY    (1811-1863) 

32. ,  A  Genial  Satirist.  Thackeray  was  bom  in  1811  in 
Calcutta,  where  his  father,  Richmond  Thackeray,  was  em- 
ployed by  the  East  India 
Company.  The  boy  was 
left  fatherless  at  five  and 
a  year  later  was  sent  to 
England  for  his  educa- 
tion at  Chiswick  and  at 
the  Charterhouse  School 
in  London.  He  was  very 
unhappy  at  Charter- 
house (which  he  often 
called  Slaughterhouse) 
and  once  wrote  to  his 
mother:  "There  are 
three  hundred  and 
seventy  boys  in  the 
school.  I  wish  there 
were  only  three  hundred 
and  sixty-nine."  Later 
he  went  to  Trinity  Col- 
lege, Cambridge,  but 
neglected  his  studies  and  devoted  much  of  his  time  to  writing 
short  poems.  He  remained  at  the  University  only  two  years 
and  then  studied  law  in  a  half-hearted  way.  He  inherited 
a  substantial  fortune  with  an  income  of  £500  when  he  be- 


W.  M.  Thackeray 


WILLIAM   MAKEPEACE   THACKERAY        365 

came  of  age,  but  after  an  unsuccessful  venture  as  a  magazine 
publisher,  he  went  to  Paris  to  study  drawing.  While  in 
Paris  he  married  (1836)  Isabella  Shawe.  He  had  previously 
lost  most  of  his  fortune  by  gaming  or  by  speculation,  and 
now  found  it  necessary  to  take  up  writing  as  a  means  of 
livelihood.  On  his  return  to  London  in  1837  he  contributed 
his  amusing  Yellowplush  Papers  to  Fraser's  Magazine. 
These  purported  to  be  the  memoirs  of  a  footman  who  ex- 
pressed himself  frankly  concerning  the  usages  of  fashionable 
society.  The  happiness  of  Thackeray's  home  was  unex- 
pectedly shattered  about  1840,  when  his  wife  became  insane 
after  a  severe  illness  and  had  to  be  cared  for  in  seclusion  for 
the  rest  of  her  life.  His  two  young  daughters  were  brought 
up  by  his  mother,  while  Thackeray  made  his  home  hence- 
forth in  London  clubs.  About  the  time  of  this  sad  affliction 
he  brought  out  The  Paris  Sketch  Book  (1840),  a  collection  of 
varied  papers  that  illustrated  his  ideas  on  French  life, 
literature,  and  art.  He  became  a  contributor  to  Punch  in 
1842  and  continued  on  the  staff  for  the  next  twelve  years. 
A  tour  of  Ireland  resulted  in  The  Irish  Sketch  Book  (1843), 
which  was  originally  printed  in  Punch.  His  first  ambitious 
story.  The  Luck  of  Barry  Lyndon  (1846),  a  lively  auto- 
biography of  an  Irish  rascal,  was  a  logical  descendant  of  the 
picaresque  story  of  earlier  times,  but  in  spite  of  its  obvious 
merits,  it  was  not  popular.  His  next  effort.  The  Book  of 
Snobs  (1848) ,  was  more  successful.  Never  was  a  more  pungent 
or  more  amusing  satire  leveled  at  those  unfortunate  creatures 
of  whatever  rank  who  foolishly  assume  airs  of  gentility  and 
of  superiority,  or  who  toady  to  others  above  them.  It  is 
still  good  fun  and  affords  several  glimpses  of  Thackeray  at 
his  best  as  a  satirist. 

33.  A  Belated  Fame.  Thackeray  was  thirty-seven  when 
his  great  novel.  Vanity  Fair  (1848),  established  his  reputa- 
tion. In  this  satirical  masterpiece  he  departed  from  the 
current  tradition  of  presenting  idealized  heroes  and  heroines, 


366  THE  VICTORIAN  AGE 

and  reverted  to  the  manner  of  Fielding,  who  preferred  living 
types  with  all  the  traits,  good  and  bad  alike,  of  real  persons. 
A  choice  array  of  shady  characters  of  both  sexes  pass  in 
review  before  the  reader  of  this  "novel  without  a  hero." 
Although  such  figures  as  Rawdon  Crawley,  George  Osborne, 
and  Major  Dobbin  may  be  lacking  in  heroic  quality,  there 
is  no  doubt  that.  Becky  Sharp  is  a  notable  heroine  of  an  un- 
desirable sort.  With  hypocritical  craft  she  manages  to 
accomplish  her  selfish  ends  and  helps  to  wreck  the  lives  of 
many  who  come  within  her  evil  influence.  Thackeray,  in 
his  favorite  role  of  a  showman  exhibiting  his  puppets,  used 
his  numerous  characters  for  a  satirical  exposure  of  the  smug 
morality  prevailing  in  middle-class  English  society.  There 
is  much  bitter  cynicism,  however,  in  this  brilliant  book, 
which  is  apt  to  leave  the  impression  that  all  mankind  is 
divided  into  fools  and  rogues.  After  the  publication  of 
Vanity  Fair  there  ^as  no  further  question  of  Thackeray's 
literary  position;  henceforth  he  was  one  of  London's  famous 
men.  His  next  novel,  Pendennis  (1850),  included  much  of 
his  own  earlier  experience  and  appeared  in  the  same  year  as 
David  Copperfieldf  its  counterpart  in  the  works  of  Dickens. 
Thackeray's  hero  is  very  human,  with  a  due  share  of  Thack- 
eray's own  failings,  but  the  book,  in  spite  of  its  merit,  was 
not  so  popular  as  Vanity  Fair.  In  a  series  of  Lectures  on 
English  Humorists  (1851)  he  presented  detailed  studies  of 
the  personality  of  such  men  as  Swift,  Addison,  Steele,  and 
Goldsmith.  The  lectures  display  Thackeray's  very  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  eighteenth  century  —  a  knowledge  which 
he  used  to  good  effect  in  his  next  novel,  Henry  Esmond 
(1852),  considered  by  many  the  best  historical  novel  in  the 
language.  The  finer  side  of  Thackeray's  nature  is  revealed 
in  this  vivid  picture  of  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne.  Beatrix 
and  Lady  Castlewood  are  admirably  drawn  and  Esmond 
himself  is  throughout  a  true  English  gentleman.  The 
atmosphere  of  the  period  is  reproduced  with  remarkable 


WILLIAM  MAKEPEACE   THACKERAY        367 


success.     Henry  Esmond  is  everything  that  a  good  historical 
novel  should  be. 

34.  The  Later  Years.  In  1852-1853  Thackeray  visited 
America  and  delivered  his  course  of  lectures  in  the  large 
cities.  It  is  noteworthy  that  he  was  not  guilty  of  such 
literary  indiscretions  as  resulted  from  Dickens's  first  visit 
to  America.  Upon  his  return  he  took  a  short  vacation  on 
the  Continent  and  then  wrote  his  next  important  novel. 
The  Newcomes  (1853),  a  social  satire  of  rambling  episodes, 
but  memorable  for  several  splendid  characters,  notably 
that  of  Colonel  New- 
come,  one  of  the  great 
portraits  of  English  fic- 
tion and  said  to  be 
based  upon  Thacke- 
ray's stepfather.  Many 
critics  regard  the  con- 
cluding chapters  of  this 
story  as  Thackeray's 
supreme  achievement. 
On  his  second  American 
tour  in  1855  he  lectured 


fc:..*^- 


Fountain  Court,  Middle  Temple 


on  The  Four  Georges  and  did  the  best  he  could  for  that  sorry 
assortment  of  monarchs.  He  was  a  candidate  for  Parliament 
in  1857,  but  was  defeated  in  a  very  close  contest.  Thackeray 
took  his  defeat  gracefully  and  went  on  with  his  literary  work. 
He  brought  out  a  sequel  to  Henry  Esmond  under  the  title 
The  Virginians  (1859),  in  which  he  related  the  story  of  the 
Esmond  family  in  Virginia  at  the  time  of  the  Revolutionary 
War.  It  is  the  least  interesting  of  his  later  works,  but  will 
be  read  by  all  those  who  wish  to  know  what  became  of 
the  fickle  Beatrix  whom  they  met  in  the  pages  of  Henry 
Esmond.  In  1860  Thackeray  became  editor  of  The  CornhiU 
Magazine,  to  which  he  contributed  Lovel  the  Widower  (1860) ; 
The  Adventures  of  Philip  (1862),  which  resembles  Pendennis 


368  THE  VICTORIAN  AGE 

in  plan,  but  Is  much  inferior;  and  The  Roundabout  Papers 
(1860-1863),  a  series  of  essays  and  sketches  in  which  we  get 
the  finest  evidences  of  Thackeray's  mellowed  genius.  At 
the  time  of  his  sudden  death  on  the  day  before  Christmas, 
1863,  he  left  an  unfinished  novel,  Denis  Duval.  He  was 
buried  in  Kensal  Green  Cemetery,  and  a  bust  has  since 
been  placed  in  Westminster  Abbey. 

35.  The  Art  of  Thackeray.  There  are  some  writers  who 
reveal  evidences  of  a  fascinating  personality  even  in  their 
less  significant  works  and  who  should  therefore  not  be 
studied  in  their  masterpieces  alone.  Much  of  Thackeray's 
best  humor  and  satire  is  to  be  found  in  the  minor  sketches 
that  lie  wrote  for  Punch  and  other  periodicals.  There  is 
very  good  fun  in  the  rollicking  poems  that  he  wrote  at  odd 
times  during  his  career.  He  also  gave  us  one  classic  story 
for  children.  The  Rose  and  the  Ring,  in  which  youngsters 
from  six  to  sixty  may  read  with  delight  of  Countess  Gruff- 
anuff,  the  Lord  Chancellor  Squaretoso,  and  Captain  Kutasoff 
Hedzoff.  Few  novelists  have  been  more  versatile  and  more 
successful  in  their  versatility  than  Thackeray. 

His  obligation  to  Fielding  is  quite  as  evident  as  Dickens's 
debt  to  Smollett.  He_sKaa-aji_uiicQmpromising  realist,  with 
none  of  Dickens's  inclination  toward  romantic  coloring  or 
sentimentality.  Although  he  was  a  year  older  than  Dickens, 
he  did  not  make  a  great  success  until  Dickens  had  completed 
his  sixth  important  novel.  At  no  time  did  Thackeray  rival 
Dickens  in  popularity,  but  he  was  the  greater  writer  and 
showed  in  his  best  work  the  substantial  merits  that  do  not 
require  the  verdict  of  popular  favor.  His  style  is  pure, 
light,  and  graceful.  He  had  a  mastery  of  English  that 
places  him  high  among  the  Victorian  prose  writers.  Through- 
out his  work  we  note  the  refined  manner  and  the  charm  of 
tone  that  reflect  the  gentleman.  He  was  not  less  notable 
for  character  portrayal  than  for  his  descriptive  power  and 
for  keeping  his  plot  well  in  hand.    His  satire  was  not  the 


GEORGE  ELIOT 


369 


bjtter  invective  of  a  diseased  mind  like  Swift's  or  of  a  mean, 
cynical  nature  like  Pope's.  It  was  the  genial,  corrective 
exposure  of  human  frailty  and  social  sham  —  an  exposure 
that  sought  to  teach  mankind  to  go  and  do  otherwise.  So- 
ciety is  full  of  such  callous,  hypocritical  characters  as  Thack- 
eray described  so  effectively;  it  is  well  that  we  should  know 
them  for  what  they  are  —  but  do  not  let  us  forget  that  the 
creator  of  Becky  Sharp  and  the  Marquis  of  Steyne  also  gave 
us  Lady  Castlewood  and  Colonel  Newcome. 


GEORGE    ELIOT    (1819-1880) 

36.  A  Late  Blossoming.  Mary  Ann  Evans,  or  Marian 
Evans,  as  she  preferred  to  be  called,  was  born  in  1819  at 
Arbury  in  Warwickshire, 
about  twenty  miles  from 
Shakespeare's  Stratford. 
Her  family  was  of  good 
country  stock  and  sternly 
religious.  She  was  sent  to 
school  at  Nuneaton  and  at 
Coventry  until  she  was 
twelve,  then  she  helped  her 
mother  with  the  household 
duties.  She  found  oppor- 
tunity, however,  to  study 
languages  and  to  read  ex- 
tensively. At  seventeen, 
after  her  mother's  death, 
she  had  to  take  full  charge 
of  the  home.  She  continued 
her  literary  studies  and  in 

1846  completed  a  translation  from  the  German  of  Strauss's 
Life  of  Jesus.  After  her  father  died  in  1849  she  spent  some 
time  in  Geneva,  and  on  her  return  to  England  became  a 


George  Eliot 


370  THE  VICTORIAN  AGE 

contributor  to  The  Westminster  Review  and  later  an  assistant 
editor.  In  1854  she  formed  a  union  with  George  Henry 
Lewes,  who  advised  her  well  in  her  Uterary  undertakings 
and  urged  her  to  try  fiction.  Her  story  of  Amos  Barton 
was  published  in  1857  in  Blackwood's  Magazine  under  the 
pseudonym  George  Ehot,  which  she  used  regularly  there- 
after. This  and  two  other  short  stories  were  brought  out 
in  book  form  as  Scenes  of  Clerical  Life  (1858).  Many  guesses 
were  made  at  the  author's  identity,  but  Dickens  seems  to 
have  been  the  first  to  suspect  that  the  writer  was  a  woman. 
Adam  Bede  (1859),  which  is  usually  accepted  as  the  best 
of  her  novels,  is  an  impressive  story  set  in  surroundings 
that  were  familiar  and  was  based  on  actual  events.  Certain 
traits  of  her  father  and  her  mother  were  used  in  the  delinea- 
tion of  Adam  and  Mrs.  Poyser.  The  Mill  on  the  Floss  (1860) 
was  more  autobiographical  in  character.  Maggie  and  Tom 
are  a  reflection  of  George  Eliot  and  her  brother  Isaac.  The 
story  is  tragic  and  somewhat  morbid.  Silas  Marner  (1861), 
a  much  shorter  tale,  has  always  been  admired  as  a  model 
of  narrative  art.  There  is  real  pathos  in  the  story  of  the 
unhappy  weaver  of  Raveloe  whose  sole  interest  in  life  is  his 
hoard  of  gold.  George  Eliot  visited  Florence  in  1860-1861 
and  during  her  tour  of  Italy  conceived  the  plan  of  writing 
Romola  (1863),  her  most  ambitious  undertaking,  a  portrayal 
of  Florence  in  the  days  of  Savonarola.  It  is  a  tragic  love- 
story  with  the  Italy  of  the  fifteenth  century  as  a  colorful 
background.  Romola  was  much  admired,  but  it  lacks  the 
imaginative  power  that  is  essential  to  the  best  historical 
fiction.  The  labor  of  writing  the  novel  was  so  great  that 
George  Eliot  said:  "I  began  it  a  young  woman  —  I  finished 
it  an  old  woman."  Felix  Holt  (1866),  the  least  successful 
of  her  novels,  was  political  in  character.  The  Spanish  Gypsy 
(1868),  a  dramatic  poem,  was  also  a  failure.  Middlemarch 
(1872)  was  at  first  hailed  as  her  masterpiece  and  even  lauded 
as  the  greatest  of  all  novels,  but  later  judgment  has  empha- 


GEORGE  ELIOT  371 

sized  the  fact  that  it  is  labored  and  overladen  with  detail. 
There  is  too  much  moralizing  and  dissection  of  character. 
Daniel  Deronda  (1876)  revealed  her  later  faults  to  a  far 
greater  degree.  She  regarded  it  as  her  best  work,  but  most 
readers  found  it  dull.  In  these  later  novels  she  emulated 
the  example  of  Browning  in  giving  us  detailed  soul-pictures 
—  studies  of  motives,  impulses,  and  struggles  in  the  heart 
of  man.  George  Henry  Lewes  died  in  1878.  Two  years 
later  George  Eliot  married  John  W.  Cross  and  died  a  few 
months  after  her  wedding. 

37.  The  Blight  of  Pessimism.  George  Eliot  was  really 
more  successful  in  her  novels  dealing  with  English  country 
life  than  in  her  more  studied  efforts  to  inject  philosophical 
interpretation  of  character  into  her  stories.  She  took  special 
interest  in  portraying  wrecked  lives,  and  in  making  clear 
how  and  why  they  became  failures.  There  are  noteworthy 
delineations  of  character  in  her  books.  The  number  of  her 
creations  is  small,  when  compared  with  Dickens  or  Thack- 
eray, but  her  characters,  like  theirs,  abide  in  the  memory. 
During  her  later  years  George  Eliot  was  extravagantly 
praised  by  her  admirers,  who  insisted  that  her  literary  work 
was  on  a  par  with  Shakespeare's.  Posterity,  however,  has 
not  sustained  that  verdict.  Much  of  her  contemporary 
fame  was  due  to  the  fact  that  after  the  death  of  Thackeray 
and  Dickens  she  was  quite  properly  regarded  as  the  leading 
living  novelist.  Viewed  in  the  light  of  later  contributions 
to  English  fiction,  her  work  seems  less  significant.  As  a  rule 
her  novels  are  depressing  because  she  preferred  to  present 
lives  that  were  failures.  Dickens,  with  all  his  fondness  for 
exposing  social  wrong,  was  fundamentally  optimistic,  and 
Thackeray,  satirical  moralist  though  he  was,  endeavored  to 
point  out  the  way  to  better  things.  George  Eliot,  however, 
seemed  to  feel  that  life  was  a  ghastly  failure  for  most  persons 
and  that  as  a  sincere  artist  she  must  depict  conditions  as 
she  saw  them.     In  thus  permitting  a  pessimistic  strain  to 


372 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE 


pervade  most  of  her  work,  George  Eliot  really  invited  the 
comparative  neglect  from  which  she  now  suffers. 

38.  George  Meredith  (1828-1909)  was  born  at  Ports- 
mouth and  after  getting  his  early  education  was  sent  to 
school  in  Germany  for  two  years.  Afterwards  he  entered  a 
solicitor's  office,  but  abandoned  law  when  he  became  of  age. 
His  early  life  was  full  of  hardship,  as  his  books  did  not  meet 
with  favor,  and  he  was  disinclined  to  turn  to  some  other 

means  of  livelihood.  For 
many  years  he  was  a  pub- 
lisher'p  advisor  and  thus 
managed  to  improve  his 
income. .  His  Poems  (1851) 
attracted  little  attention 
when  they  were  first  pub- 
lished, but  recent  critics 
attach  more  weight  to  the 
significance  of  his  poetical 
work.  The  Shaving  of 
Shagpat  (1856),  a  fantastic 
Oriental  tale,  was  followed 
by  one  of  his  best  novels. 
The  Ordeal  of  Richard 
Fererel  (1859),  the  first  of 
a  long  series  dealing  for 
the  most  part  with  persons 
in  the  upper  circles  of  society.  Among  these  novels  are 
Evan  Harrington  (1861),  Rhoda  Fleming  (1865),  Beau- 
champ's  Career  (1876),  The  Egoist  (1879),  The  Tragic  Co- 
medians (1881),  Diana  of  the  Crossways  (1885),  and  The 
Amazing  Marriage  (1895). 

Meredith  figures  as  a  sort  of  Browning  among  novelists. 
His  stories  are  developed  somewhat  in  the  style  of  a  satiric 
comedy  of  manners,  with  little  action,  but  much  analysis 
of  personahty  and  discussion  of  motive.     The  characters 


George  Meredith 


THOMAS  HARDY 


373 


use  excellent  English  and  coin  smart  epigrams  with  great 
frequency.  Meredith  continued  to  write  in  his  own  dis- 
tinctive manner,  apparently  caring  very  little  whether  the 
pubhc  bought  his  books  or  not.  Like  Browning,  he  was  a 
confirmed  optimist.  Whether  he  will  ultimately  be  more 
highly  esteemed  for  his  poetry  than  for  his  fiction  is  uncertain, 
but  no  one  will  question  his  important  position  among  our 
more  intellectual  novelists. 

39.  Thomas  Hardy  (1840-  )  was  born  in  Dorsetshire 
and  received  his  education  in  evening  classes  at  King's 
College,  London.  He  studied 
architecture  and  was  success- 
ful in  that  profession,  but  he  took 
up  literature  when  he  was 
about  thirty.  Nearly  all  his 
novels  depict  middle-class  and 
peasant  life  in  the  large  district 
of  southwestern  England  known 
as  Wessex.  His  first  novel. 
Desperate  Remedies  (1871),  was 
followed  in  rapid  succession  by 
Under  the  Greenwood  Tree 
(1872),  A  Pair  of  Blue  Eyes 
(1873),  and  Far  from  the  Mad- 
ding Crowd  (1874).  The  last 
mentioned  has  usually  been 
accepted  as  his  best  work.  There  are  not  many  books 
that  cover  so  completely  and  so  faithfully  the  varied 
panorama  of  English  country  life.  It  revealed  his  rare 
imaginative  quality  and  his  intimate  knowledge  of  the 
life  that  he  undertook  to  portray.  Other  fine  novels  are 
The  Return  of  the  Native  (1878),  The  Woodlanders  (1887), 
and  Tess  of  the  Z)'  Urhervilles  (1891).  In  1895  he  published 
Jude  the  Obscure,  the  least  satisfactory  of  his  novels.  It 
was  so  unfavorably  received  that  Mr.  Hardy  gave  up  writing 


Thomas  Hardy 


374 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE 


fiction  thereafter.  In  addition  to  several  volumes  of  excellent 
short  stories,  he  published  in  1898  a  collection  of  Wessex 
Poems,  but  these  had  been  written  as  early  as  1865-1870. 
A  most  ambitious  dramatic  undertaking  was  the  trilogy 
called  The  Dynasts  (1904-1908),  a  vast  play  in  nineteen  acts 
and  one  hundred  and  thirty  scenes,  depicting  the  era  of 
the  Napoleonic  Wars.  Although  intended  for  mental  per- 
formance only,  parts  of  it  have  been  successfully  produced. 

Mr.  Hardy  is  a  stern  realist  and  in  his  novels  looks  upon 
life  with  a  pessimism  that  is  well-nigh  hopeless,  yet  he  is 

much  admired  for  the 
setting  that  he  has  given 
to  his  tragic  tales.  Un- 
Hke  Meredith,  he  did  not 
choose  to  write  of  per- 
sons in  the  upper  walks 
of  life,  but  almost  uni- 
formly preferred  those  in 
humbler  surroundings. 
His  characters,  whether 
gentry  or  rustics,  stand 
out  boldly  as  individuals 
and  fulfill  their  destmy 
in  a  manner  that  often  suggests  the  fatalism  of  Greek  drama. 
There  is  a  vein  of  racy,  bucolic  humor  that  is  especially 
evident  in  his  dehneation  of  country  yokels.  Hardy  like- 
wise shows  a  subtle  sense  of  fitness  in  choosing  the  scenic 
background  for  his  stories.  During  his  later  years  Mr. 
Hardy  aspired  to  poetic  laurels,  but  he  has  not  succeeded  in 
rivaling  his  reputation  as  a  novelist. 


Hardy*s  Birthplace 


ROBERT   LOUIS   STEVENSON    (1850-1894) 

40.  An  Optimistic  Invalid.     Stevenson  was  born  in  Edin- 
burgh in  1850  and  was  descended  from  a  line  of  engineers 


ROBERT  LOUIS  STEVENSON 


375 


who  built  lighthouses  about  the  coast  of  Scotland.  He 
was  an  invalid  from  infancy  and  secured  a  rather  irregular 
education  in  private  schools  and  at  Edinburgh  University. 
After  studying  for  the  bar,  he  finally  gave  up  the  prospect 
of  a  legal  career  because  of  ill-health.  For  several  years  he 
traveled  about  France,  Switzerland,  and  America  in  search 
of  a  beneficial  cKmate.  An  Inland  Voyage  (1878)  and 
Travels  with  a  Donkey  (1879)  give  vivid  accounts  of  his 
wanderings  in  a  vain  quest  of  health.  In  1880  he  married 
Mrs.  Fanny  Osbourne  in 
San  Francisco  and  collab- 
orated in  literary  work 
with  his  stepson  Lloyd 
Osbourne.  He  published 
The  New  Arabian  Nights 
(1882),  a  volume  of  clever 
short  stories  that  are  too 
much  neglected  nowadays. 
Treasure  Island  (1883),  a 
glorified  "dime  novel,"  won 
for  him  a  large  audience 
among  boys  as  well  as 
among  older  readers  who 
retained  a  taste  for  thrilling 
pirate  stories.  Prince  Otto 
(1885)  was  a  romantic 
story,  but  it  achieved  only  a  moderate  success.  World- 
wide fame  came  to  Stevenson  with  his  next  story.  The 
Strange  Case  of  Dr.  Jekyll  and  Mr.  Hyde  (1886),  which 
was  developed  from  an  idea  that  came  to  him  in  a  dream. 
This  weird  allegory  of  the  dual  natures  in  aU  men 
has  been  a  familiar  book  ever  since.  The  remarkable 
portrayal  of  the  two  sharply  contrasted  characters  by 
Richard  Mansfield  in  the  dramatic  version  of  the  story 
did   much   to   spread   Stevenson's   reputation   in   America. 


Robert  Louis  Stevenson 


S76  THE  VICTORIAN  AGE 

Kidnapped  (1886),  a  well-named  book  for  boys,  presents 
an  accurate  picture  of  life  in  the  eighteenth  century,  but 
wanes  in  interest  before  the  end.  The  Master  of  Ballantrae 
(1889)  is  regarded  by  most  critics  as  the  artistic  masterpiece 
among  Stevenson's  novels.  Catriona  (1893)  was  a  sequel 
to  Kidnapped,  and  completed  the  adventures  of  the  hero 
David  Balfour. 

Stevenson  also  wrote  some  admirable  poetry  in  his  Child's 
Garden  of  Verses  (1885)  and  several  volumes  of  entertaining 
essays,  including  Virginibus  Puerisque  (1881)  and  Familiar 
Studies  of  Men  and  Books  (1882).  Three  plays  written  in 
collaboration  with  Henlev  were  not  so  successful.  In  1890 
he  settled  in  Samoa,  where  he  was  much  beloved  by  the 
natives  and  accepted  as  a  great  personage.  There  he  con- 
tinued to  labor  on  his  numerous  literary  projects  until  his 
death  in  1894.  A  group  of  native  chieftains  bore  the  body 
of  their  beloved  Tusitala  (or  teller  of  tales)  up  the  slope  of 
Mount  Vaea  to  its  last  resting-place  on  the  summit.  At 
his  death  he  left  unfinished  two  fragments,  St.  Ives  (1897) 
and  Weir  of  Hermiston  (1897),  which  gave  promise  of  being 
his  best  work. 

41.  The  Personality  of  Stevenson.  The  literary  work  of 
Stevenson  covers  a  wide  range  of  literary  form  —  epic 
poetry,  ballads,  lyrics,  romances,  plays,  historical  novels, 
mystery  stories,  travels,  essays,  and  letters.  In  addifion 
to  his  longer  works,  Stevenson  wrote  several  of  the  best 
short  stories  in  the  language.  A  Lodging  for  the  Nighty 
Markheim,  and  The  Sire  de  Maletraifs  Door  are  models  of 
their  kind.  His  poetry,  apart  from  a  few  numbers  in  the 
Child's  Garden  and  his  lovely  Requiem,  is  of  secondary 
importance.  His  essays,  though  bright  and  entertaining, 
are  not  of  the  first  rank.  He  will  be  remembered  for  his 
splendid  romances,  the  best  of  his  short  stories,  and  by 
no  means  least  for  the  charming  letters  that  reveal  one  of 
the  most  gracious  personalities  in   literature.     He  has  a 


OTHER   NOVELISTS  377 

large  and  growing  group  of  admirers  who  are  more  interested 
in  Stevenson  the  man  than  in  Stevenson  the  writer.  It  is 
good  to  know  his  opinion  of  men  and  books;  it  is  better  to 
dehght  in  the  fine  tales  he  told;  but  it  is  best  of  all  to  be- 
come acquainted  with  the  rare  soul  revealed  in  the  four 
volumes  of  his  collected  correspondence.  We  admire  the 
great  romance  writer  who  died  "with  a  thousand  stories 
in  his  heart,"  but  we  love  the  valiant  spirit  that  fought  down 
the  drag  of  life-long  disease  and,  though  always  in  the 
shadow  of  death,  declared  in  buoyant,  ringing  tones  that 
life  is  worth  living. 

42.  Other  Novelists.  The  Victorian  era  developed  many 
other  writers  of  fiction  whose  achievements  are  too  important 
to  be  overlooked.  These  men  and  women  contributed  in 
large  degree  to  make  the  novel  the  dominant  form  during 
the  latter  part  of  the  century. 

Edward  Bulwer,  Lord  Lytton  (1803-1873)  was  a  leader  of 
fashion  and  a  member  of  Parliament.  For  many  years  he 
was  held  in  high  regard  as  a  writer  of  very  diversified  novels. 
His  Zanoni  (1842)  and  A  Strange  Story  (1862)  belong  to  the 
class  of  "tales  of  terror."  Paul  Clifford  (1830)  and  Eugene 
Aram  (1832)  are  sentimental  storfes'*in  which  criminals  are 
pictured  as  heroes.  Ernest  Maltravers  (1837),  The  Caxtons 
(1849),  and  My  Novel  (1853)  are  conventional  social  stories 
of  a  kind  once  popular  but  now  regarded  as  artificial.  He 
is  best  remembered  by  two  historical  novels.  The  Last  Days 
of  Pompeii  (1834)  and  The  Last  of  the  Barons  (1843).  His 
plays.  The  Lady  of  Lyons  (1838)  and  Richelieu  (1839), 
had  an  enduring  .career  on  the  English  stage  and  are  occasion- 
ally revived.  Those  who  like  hair-raising  ghost  stories  will 
enjoy  his  short  tale,  The  House  and  the  Brain. 

Benjamin  Disraeli,  Lord  Beaconsfield  (1804-1881)  was 
twice  Prime  Minister,  yet  found  time  during  a  busy  political 
life  to  write  a  dozen  social  and  satirical  novels.  Among 
those  that  are  best  known  to  modern  readers  are   Vivian 


378  THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  '^ 

Gray  (1826),  Coningshy  (1844),  'Sybil  (1845),  Lothair  (1870), 
and  Endymion  (1880).  All  of  these  except  the  first  will 
prove  interesting  to  the  student  of  English  pohtical  life 
during  the  nineteenth  century. 

Elizabeth  Cleghorn  Gaskell  (1810-1865),  always  known 
as  "Mrs.  Gaskell,"  is  interesting  for  a  single  book,  Cranfard 
(1853),  in  which  she  depicted  in  most  realistic  fashion  and 
with  much  humor  the  country  life  of  provincial  England. 
Her  community  is  made  up  of  spinsters  and  widow^s  who 
spend  their  spare  time  in  local  gossip  over  their  tea-cups. 
She  also  wrote  an  excellent  biography  of  Charlotte  Bronte. 

Charles  Reade  (1814-1884)  was  a  Fellow  of  Magdalen 
College,  Oxford,  and  a  London  barrister.  Among  his  many 
novels  the  most  notable  are:  It  is  Never  too  Late  to  Mend 
(1856),  which  exposed  the  vicious  conditions  of  prison 
administration  and  convict  labor;  Griffith  Gaunt  (1867), 
a  study  of  jealousy;  and  Put  Yourself  in  His  Place  (1870), 
a  powerful  study  of  trade-unionism.  His  masterpiece. 
The  Cloister  and  the  Hearth  (1861),  stands  quite  apart 
from  the  rest  of  his  work.  In  this  vigorous  tale  Reade 
drew  with  consummate  art  a  lively  picture  of  the  dark  period 
just  preceding  the  dawn  of  the  Reformation.  We  are  taken 
through  the  Holland,  Germany,  France,  and  Italy  of  the 
fifteenth  century;  we  are  enthralled  by  the  absorbing 
story  of  Margaret  and  of  Gerard,  the  father  of  the  great 
scholar  Erasmus.  For  lofty  humanity  and  noble  sentiment 
this  story  matches  the  achievement  of  our  leading  novelists 
at  their  best.  More  than  one  critic  has  acclaimed  it  the 
finest  historical  novel  in  the  language. 

Anthony  TroUope  (1815-1882)  covered  a  wide  range  of 
subjects  in  the  thirty-odd  novels  that  he  wrote,  but  was  at 
his  best  in  portraying  provincial  life  among  the  clergy  and 
the  gentry  in  a  cathedral  city.  The  Warden  (1855)  was  the 
fiist  of  this  series,  and  was  followed  by  Bar  Chester  Towers 
(1857),  which  is  the  most  widely  read  of  his  books.     The 


OTHER  NOVELISTS 


379 


Last  Chronicle  of  Barset  (1867)  is  the  most  important  of 
his  later  works.  Trollope  took  little  interest  in  developing 
the  scenic  background  for  his  stories,  but  in  his  description 
of  a  select  social  order  of  English  folk  he  stands  almost 
supreme. 

Charlotte  Bronte  (1816-1855)  was  the  daughter  of  a  York- 
shire minister  and  created  a  sensation  with  her  dramatic 
novel,  Jane  Eyre  (1847),  which  she  dedicated  to  Thackeray. 
Indeed,  her  book  was  at  first  even  more  widely  discussed 
than  Thackeray's  Vanity  Fair, 
which  had  appeared  at  about 
the  same  time.  Jane  Eyre  was 
manifestly  the  first  work  of  an 
inexperienced  hand,  but  won  its 
immediate  success  because  of 
its  revelation  of  a  woman's 
morbid  and  rebellious  spirit. 
In  the  tragic  sweep  of  the  story, 
the  author  laid  bare  her  soul 
with  a  frankness  that  startled 
many  readers  of  the  mid- Vic- 
torian period.  She  had  some- 
thing of  the  manner  of  Jane 
Austen  in  her  minute  realism, 

but  was  far  more  unrestrained  and  emotional  in  her  work. 
Two  other  novels,  Shirley  (1849)  and  Villette  (1853),  were  less 
successful.  Her  talented  sisters,  Emily  (1818-1848)  and 
Anne  (1820-1849),  also  wTote  novels.  Emily's  somber  tale 
of  terror,  Wuthering  Heights  (1847),  has  many  admirers  and 
is  regarded  by  some  as  better  than  Charlotte's  work. 
Anne's  two  novels,  The  Tenant  of  Wildfell  Hall  (1848)  and 
Agnes  Grey  (1848),  are  less  important. 

Charles  Kingsley  (1819-1875)  was  a  Cambridge  man 
who  entered  the  Church  and  became  a  stanch  advocate 
of   "muscular   Christianity."      In  his   early  novels.    Yeast 


Charlotte  Bronte 


380  THE  \1CT0RIAN  AGE 

(1848)  and  Alton  Locke  (1850),  he  assailed  social  conditions 
among  agricultural  laborers  and  the  tailors  in  the  London 
"sweatshops."  Hypatia  (1853)  is  a  minute  study  of  a 
remarkable  period  —  the  Neo-paganism  of  Alexandria  in 
the  fifth  century,  when  Greek  and  Christian  civilizations 
were  in  their  final  grapple  for  control  of  the  world.  West- 
ward Ho!  (1855)  is  a  spirited  tale  of  the  sea-rovers  of  Eliza- 
bethan days,  when  England  wrested  the  supremacy  of  the 
sea  from  Spain.  In  its  pages  the  venturesome,  care-free 
Devonshire  men  live  again  and  go  forth  to  battle  w^th  the 
storms  of  the  Atlantic  or  with  the  foe  from  beyond  the  seas. 
Few  books  have  won  a  firmer  place  in  the  hearts  of  boys 
who  enjoy  tales  of  heroic  exploits.  There  is  no  maudlin 
sentiment,  no  cheap  moralizing,  but  a  succession  of  lively 
adventures  with  the  tang  of  the  brine  ever  present.  Here- 
ward  the  Wake  (1866)  gives  a  graphic  account  of  life  in  Eng- 
land shortly  after  the  Norman  Conquest.  Kingsley  also 
wrote  a  charming  story  for  children,  Water-Babies  (1863), 
and  in  his  poem  Andromeda  he  composed  some  of  the  finest 
classical  hexameters  in  the  language. 

Wilkie  Collins  (1824-1889)  was  a  friend  and  collaborator 
of  Dickens.  He  is  famous  for  three  mystery  stories.  The 
Woman  in  White  (1860),  No  Name  (1862),  and  The  Moon- 
stone (1868),  which  are  still  admired  for  their  intricate  plot 
construction.  Such  novels  represent  the  normal  develop- 
ment of  the  "tale  of  terror."  The  Moonstone  is  said  to  have 
the  most  complicated  plot  in  literature. 

Richard  D.  Blackmore  (1825-1900),  a  barrister  and  teacher, 
wrote  more  than  a  dozen  novels,  but  only  one  achieved 
fame.  Lorna  Doone  (1869)  is  not  only  a  vigorous  romance 
of  the  days  of  Monmouth's  Rebellion,  but  a  book  abound- 
ing in  fine  descriptive  passages  about  the  scenery  of  Exmoor. 
This  story  of  a  notorious  robljer  clan,  a  gigantic  hero,  and 
a  lady  fair  is  well  written  in  a  wholesome  fashion,  with 
evident  zest  for  the  good  things  that  life  has  to  offer. 


OTHER  NOVELISTS  381 

Dinah  Mulock  Craik  (1826-1887)  also  wrote  many  novels 
that  were  popular  in  their  day,  but  only  one,  John  Halifax^ 
Gentleman  (1856),  has  survived  to  assure  her  a  place  among 
the  novelists. 

Charles  Lutwidge  Dodgson  (1832-1898)  is  not  a  familiar 
name,  but  who  has  not  heard  of  Lewis  Carroll?  Many 
delighted  readers  of  those  immortal  phantasies,  Alice's 
Adventures  in  Wonderland  (1866)  and  Through  the  Looking 
Glass  (1870),  do  not  know  that  the  learned  mathematician 
of  Oxford  University  and  the  famous  Lewis  Carroll  were  the 
same  person.  Dodgson  had  two  great  hobbies  in  life — mathe- 
matics and  children  —  but  he  gave  his  best  to  the  children, 

Joseph  Henry  Shorthouse  (1834-1903)  was  a  manufacturer, 
born  in  Birmingham,  whose  literary  reputation  rests  almost 
entirely  on  one  novel,  John  Inglesant  (1881),  a  remarkable 
analysis  of  a  human  character  living  during  the  Civil  Wars 
in  England. 

William  Black  (1841-1898)  was  a  Scotchman  who  went  to 
London  and  there  became  one  of  the  prolific  novelists  of 
the  period.  Among  the  few  of  his  books  that  are  still  read 
are  A  Daughter  of  Heth  (1871)  and  Princess  of  Thule  (1874). 
Judith  Shakespeare  (1884)  gives  an  interesting  picture  of 
Shakespeare's  later  days  at  Stratford  and  his  younger 
daughter's  romance. 

George  Gissing  (1857-1903)  was  born  at  Wakefield  and 
educated  at  Owens  College,  Manchester.  After  spending 
much  of  his  early  life  in  America,  he  wandered  about  from 
country  to  country,  finally  returning  to  England  to  engage 
in  literature.  He  had  a  desperate  struggle  with  povei-ty. 
Much  of  his  fiction  deals  with  the  unfortunate  people  of 
the  lower  classes  and  depicts  most  grimly  their  drab  lives. 
Among  his  best  books  are  The  Unclassed  (1884),  Demos 
(1886),  Thyrza  (1887),  The  Nether  World  (1889),  New 
Grub  Street  (1891),  and  Human  Odds  and  Ends  (1897). 
Most  of  these  titles  give  some  icjea  of  the  human   dregs 


382 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE 


with  which  the  stories  deal.     The  Private  Papers  of  Henry 
Ryecroft  (1903)  is  largely  autobiographical. 


JOHN   RUSKIN    (1819-1900) 

43.  A  Sheltered  Youth.    John  Ruskin,  the  only  child  of 
John  James  Ruskin,  a  wealthy  wine-merchant,  was  born 

in  London  in  1819.  His 
father,  who  was  fond  of  good 
pictures  and  good  books, 
gave  the  boy  ample  oppor- 
tunity to  develop  an  appre- 
ciation for  both.  John  was 
most  carefully  educated  by 
private  tutors  and  enjoyed 
the  privileges  of  foreign 
travel.  At  fifteen  he  saw 
the  Alps  and  the  scenic 
beauty  of  Italy,  which  made 
a  lasting  impression.  He 
entered  Christ  Church,  Ox- 
ford, in  1836  and  won  the 
Newdigate  Prize  three  years 
later.  Ill-health  protracted 
his  stay  at  Oxford,  but  he 
took  a  degree  in  1842.  Although  his  original  intention  was 
to  enter  the  Church,  he  turned  to  the  writing  of  literature. 
The  first  volume  of  his  Modern  Painters  (1843)  aroused 
much  discussion  in  the  field  of  art.  He  was  especially  en- 
thusiastic in  praising  the  work  of  the  artist  Turner,  whose 
admirable  landscape  painting  had  been  received  by  the 
critics  with  scorn  and  even  ridicule.  The  book  was  written 
with  a  florid  brilliancy  of  diction  that  brought  Ruskin  as 
a  young  man  of  twenty-four  into  the  front  rank  of  prose 
writers.    A  second  volume  appeared  in  1846;  three  more  vol- 


John  Ruskin 


JOHN  RUSKIN  383 

umes  completed  the  undertaking  between  1856-1860.  This 
elaborate  work  assured  Ruskin  a  virtual  dictatorship  in 
questions  pertaining  to  art  criticism.  His  other  important 
books  dealing  with  art  were  The  Seven  Lamps  of  Architecture 
(1849)  and  The  Stones  of  Venice  (1851-1853).  He  was  much 
interested  in  the  ideals  of  the  Pre-Raphaelites  and  wrote 
in  defense  of  their  views  in  his  Pre-Raphaelitism  (1851). 
Ruskin  married  Euphemia  Gray  in  1848,  but  the  marriage 
was  not  a  happy  one.  They  separated  in  1855  and  Mrs.  Rus- 
kin later  became  the  wife  of  the  artist  Sir  John  E.  Millais. 
44.  A  Social  Reformer.  In  middle  age  Ruskin  developed 
a  deep  interest  in  social  and  economic  questions,  and  gave 
much  of  his  time  and  money  to  the  improvement  of  condi- 
tions among  the  lower  classes.  Unto  this  Last  (1860)  and 
Munera  Pulveris  (1862)  were  books  in  which  he  first  pro- 
claimed his  economic  theories.  Other  writers  on  social 
questions  did  not  accept  his  somewhat  sentimental  views, 
but  he  went  resolutely  on  with  his  work.  Sesame  and  Lilies 
(1865),  which  is  now  his  most  popular  book,  included  two 
lectures  on  books  and  reading,  and  on  the  education  of 
women.  A  third  lecture,  on  The  Mystery  of  Life,  is  usually 
neglected  because  of  its  pessimistic  tone.  The  Ethics  of 
the  Dust  (1866)  is  a  series  of  lectures  addressed  to  "little 
housewives,"  but  is  largely  devoted  to  mineralogy.  The 
Crown  of  Wild  Olive  (1866)  was  made  up  of  three  lectures 
entitled  Work,  Traffic,  and  War.  From  1870-1879  Ruskin 
was  Professor  of  Art  at  Oxford  University.  During  that 
period  he  addressed  almost  a  hundred  monthly  letters  to. 
the  workingmen  of  England  under  the  title  of  Fors  Clavigera 
(1871).  Later  he  bought  a  beautiful  estate  at  Brantwood 
on  Lake  Coniston,  in  the  Lake  District,  and  there  he  spent 
his  declining  years,  writing  his  autobiography  called  Praeterita 
(1885-1889).  He  had  been  subject  to  illness  during  much  of 
his  life  and  was  an  invaHd  toward  the  end.  The  large  fortune, 
said  to  be  as  much  as  £180,000,  which  he  had  inherited. 


384  THE  VICTORIAN  AGE 

was  almost  entirely  dispersed  for  charitable  and  philanthropic 
objects  before  his  death.  He  died  at  Brantwood  in  1900 
and  was  buried  at  Coniston. 

His  life  had  certain  tragic  aspects  in  spite  of  his  apparent 
advantages.  As  a  youngster  he  was  a  "poor  little  rich" 
boy,  carefully  kept  from  toys  and  from  playmates,  and 
subject  to  a  stern  set  of  rules  prepared  for  his  daily  conduct. 
He  was  coddled  and  supervised  by  his  parents  well  into 
middle  life.  His  marriage  was  unfortunate,  and  in  his  later 
years  he  realized  that  many  of  his  fine  plans  to  make  the 
world  anew  had  gone  wrong.  Yet  he  left  behind  him  a 
great  memorial  in  the  more  than  a  hundred  books  and 
pamphlets  that  had  come  from  his  busy  pen. 

45.  Ruskin's  Influence.  The  literary  works  of  Ruskin 
fall  into  two  well-defined  groups,  the  art  criticism  of  his 
earlier  years  and  the  economic  writings  of  his  later  period, 
when  he  sought  to  be  recognized  as  one  of  the  leaders  in 
social  reform.  In  his  works  on  art  Ruskin  did  much  to 
develop  popular  appreciation  not  merely  for  great  pictures, 
but  for  the  beauties  of  nature  which  the  painter  must  study 
intimately  before  he  can  hope  to  reproduce  them  on  canvas. 
Ruskin 's  field  of  observation  included  virtually  everything 
—  the  leaf,  the  cloud,  the  wave,  the  rock,  the  sky,  the  tree- 
trunk,  the  hoar-frost  —  each  described  with  minute  detail 
and  unusual  insight.  He  had  the  artistes  keen  sense  for 
color  and  wrote  the  most  remarkable  descriptions  of  scenes 
that  involved  rich  color  schemes.  In  prose  he  did  much  the 
same  service  that  Wordsworth  performed  in  poetry,  in 
directing  men  to  a  fuller  and  deeper  appreciation  of  the 
glories  of  nature.  Never  before  had  Englishmen  the  op- 
portunity to  read  such  impassioned  descriptions  of  great 
Alpine  scenery,  the  beauty  of  peak  or  glacier,  of  hovering 
clouds,  or  the  setting  sun.  DeQuincey  alone  of  modern 
writers  approaches  the  gorgeous  colorful  "prose  poetry" 
of  Ruskin  at  his  best.     What  others  attained  in  a  chance 


JOHN   RUSKIN  385 

passage  of  exalted  writing,  Ruskin  seemed  able  to  do  at  all 
times  and  on  any  theme. 

In  his  enthusiastic  devotion  to  social  reform,  Ruskin 
undoubtedly  felt  at  the  outset  that  he  would  accomplish 
great  results.  His  sensitive  nature  was  shocked  by  the  rank 
failure  of  civilization  to  live  up  to  its  opportunities.  Al- 
though he  shuddered  at  the  misery  and  degradation  of  the 
poor,  he  felt  that  they  merely  needed  intelligent  leaders 
to  show  them  the  way  to  better  things.  He  helped  to  es- 
tablish museums  and  art  galleries;  he  cooperated  in  the 
activities  of  night-schools  and  workingmen's  colleges.  His 
failure  to  achieve  his  ideals  was  not  to  his  discredit;  like 
most  idealists  he  had  overestimated  the  desire  of  the  lowly 
to  help  in  the  heavy  task  of  social  regeneration.  When  he 
became  conscious  of  antagonizing  forces,  he  frequently  lost 
his  temper  and  railed  bitterly  at  conditions.  At  such  times 
he  was  dogmatic  and  intolerant  of  the  views  expressed  by 
others.  His  style  had  such  admirable  qualities  as  clearness, 
brilliance,  and  imagination,  but  he  developed  the  habit  of 
constructing  huge  sentences  that  sprawled  their  ornate 
length  over  his  pages.  He  also  yielded  to  the  temptation 
of  indulging  in  "fine  writing'*  for  its  own  sake.  Ruskin's 
fondness  for  unusual  and  misleading  titles  has  undoubtedly 
curtailed  the  circle  of  his  readers.  The  choice  of  allegorical 
or  classical  titles  for  books  intended  for  the  masses  showed 
lack  of  judgment.  No  one  expects  a  book  called  Sesame 
and  Lilies  to  be  about  the  advantages  of  reading,  and  few 
workmen  would  pick  up  a  book  called  Fors  Clavigera  to  find 
out  what  it  is  about.  When  he  did  choose  a  conventional 
title  it  was  often  deceptive.  Misguided  farmers  who  bought 
Ruskin*s  Notes  on  the  Construction  of  Sheep  Folds  were 
justified  in  their  disgust  to  find  that  it  is  a  book  advocating 
reform  in  Church  government  and  has  nothing  to  do  with 
four-legged  sheep. 

In  spite  of  his  errors  of  judgment,  there  is  much  valuable 


386 


THE  VICTORIAN  AGE 


material  in  Ruskin's  social  writings.  Ideas  that  he  stated 
badly  or  perhaps  prematurely  are  finding  application  in 
various  ways  to-day.  He  was  a  sincere  advocate  of  all  that 
he  considered  essential  to  make  human  existence  happier 
and  healthier  for  all.  Surely  no  man  ever  took  up  the 
problems  of  social  reform  with  less  selfish  motives.  The 
world  has  rarely  shown  gratitude  to  those  who  originate 
noble  plans  for  the  betterment  of  humanity.  Ruskin  was 
not  the  first  "visionary"  to  be  scoffed  and  ridiculed  by  a 
thankless  generation  that  later  accepted  many  of  the  same 
ideas  with  complacent  esteem  for  its  own  intelligence. 

46.   John  Henry  Newman  (1801-1890)  was  a  graduate  of 
Trinity   College,   Oxford,   and   later  entered  the  AngUcan 

Church.  His  early  manhood 
was  spent  in  an  academic  at- 
mosphere, as  he  became  vicar  of 
St.  Mary's,  Oxford.  He  was  a 
leader  in  the  so-called  Oxford 
Movement,  which  was  a  revolt 
against  the  liberalizing  tenden- 
cies of  modern  philosophy  and 
science.  Like  the  Pre- 
Raphaelite  Movement  in  art,  it 
went  back  to  medievalism  for 
its  inspiration.  In  1845  he  en- 
tered the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  and  prepared  for  the 
priesthood.  From  1854  to  1858 
he  was  Rector  of  the  Catholic 
University  of  Dublin  and  in  1879  was  created  a  cardinal. 
Most  of  his  writings  deal  with  religious  subjects.  His 
spiritual  autobiography,  which  he  entitled  Apologia  pro 
Vita  Sua  (1864),  was  an  answer  to  a  charge  brought 
by  Charles  Kingsley.  His  friends  enjoyed  the  brilliant 
style  of  his  writings,  but  were  not  always  convinced  by  his 


John  Henry  Newman 


SCIENTIFIC   WRITERS  387 

arguments.  Newman  wrote  a  remarkably  clear  style  that 
is  admired  by  many  who  are  more  interested  in  the  manner 
than  the  matter  of  his  works.  Some  of  his  best  prose  is  found 
in  a  volume  of  essays  and  lectures  entitled  The  Idea  of  a  Uni- 
versity (1852).  He  was  a  man  of  great  spiritual  power  and 
will  always  be  remembered  for  his  fine  poem,  The  Dream  of 
Gerontiusy  and  for  his  beautiful  hymn,  "Lead,  Kindly  Light." 

47.  Scientific  Writers.  The  notable  scientific  advance 
made  during  the  Victorian  age  produced  a  number  of  writers 
whose  works  are  not  without  literary  significance.  These 
men  were  the  pioneers  in  proclaiming  many  important 
principles  that  are  now  generally  accepted,  but  which,  when 
first  proclaimed,  led  to  long  and  bitter  controversy.  It  is 
difficult  for  the  present  generation  to  understand  the  viru- 
lence with  which  many  of  the  teachings  of  these  learned 
men  were  assailed  in  the  past. 

Charles  Darwin  (1809-1882)  was  a  Cambridge  man  who 
devoted  his  life  to  the  study  of  natural  history.  He  an- 
nounced the  doctrine  of  evolution  and  discussed  it  fully  in  two 
notable  works,  The  Origin  of  Species  (1859)  and  The  Descent 
of  Man  (1871).  These  books  were  of  prime  importance  in 
shaping  the  course  of  contemporary  scientific  investigation. 

Herbert  Spencer  (1820-1903)  was  for  some  years  a  civil 
engineer  and  a  writer  of  critical  reviews,  but  he  devoted  the 
last  fifty  years  of  his  long  life  to  philosophical  study.  His 
most  important  early  work  was  his  Principles  of  Psychology 
(1855),  in  which  he  anticipated  Darwin's  idea  of  evolution. 
He  devoted  his  best  years  to  a  vast  system  of  Synthetic 
Philosophy  (1862-1898)  in  ten  volumes,  in  which  he  under- 
took to  harmonize  the  idea  of  evolution  with  the  discoveries 
of  modern  science. 

Thomas  Henry  Huxley  (1825-1895)  studied  medicine  and 
spent  four  years  as  an  assistant  surgeon  in  the  British  Navy. 
He  became  a  colleague  of  Tyndall  at  the  Royal  Institution 
and  later  was  elected  Professor  of  Comparative  Anatomy 


388  THE  VICTORIAN  AGE 

at  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons.  His  books  deal  mainly 
with  zoology  and  physiology.  He  was  one  of  Darwin's 
chief  defenders  while  the  clamor  over  evolution  raged  most 
furiously.  His  Lay  Sermonsy  Addresses,  and  Reviews  (1870) 
are  of  a  higher  literary  quality  than  most  scientific  writings. 

John  Tyndall  (1820-1893)  was,  like  Spencer,  an  engineer 
for  several  years.  Later  he  became  Professor  of  Natural 
Philosophy  at  the  Royal  Institution  and  was  its  Resident 
Director  for  twenty  years.  He  made  a  study  of  Alpine 
glaciers  with  Huxley  and  wrote  extensively  in  various  fields 
of  physical  science. 

48.  Other  Essayists.  Among  the  other  prose  writers  of 
the  Victorian  age  are  two  essayists  who  should  not  be  over- 
looked. Walter  Pater  (1839-1894)  was  an  Oxford  graduate 
who  became  a  Fellow  at  Brasenose  College  and  later  was 
chosen  Dean  of  that  college.  He  spent  most  of  his  life  at 
Oxford,  writing  for  the  reviews  and  studying  widely  in  the 
classical  and  Renaissance  periods.  His  principal  works  are 
Marius  the  Epicurean  (1885),  an  interpretation  of  the  pagan 
character.  Imaginary  Portraits  (1887),  and  Appreciations 
(1889),  a  series  of  critical  essays.  Pater  was  one  of  the  lead- 
ing stylists  of  his  age.  Few  writers  ever  took  such  pains 
to  make  their  prose  so  thoroughly  individual  and  free  from 
blemish. 

Sir  LesHe  Stephen  (1832-1904),  a  graduate  of  Eton  College 
and  of  Trinity  Hall,  Cambridge,  devoted  his  life  to  literary 
and  biographical  undertakings.  His  first  wife  was  a  daughter 
of  Thackeray.  He  was  one  of  the  editors  of  The  Cornhill 
Magazine,  and  for  nine  years  directed  the  production  of 
the  great  Dictionary  of  National  Biography,  which  was 
eventually  completed  in  sixty-three  volumes,  to  which  six 
volumes  have  since  been  added.  Besides  a  History  of 
English  Thought  in  the  Eighteenth  Century  (1876),  he  wrote 
several  volumes  of  essays  entitled  Hours  in  a  Library  (1874- 
1879)  and  Studies  of  a  Biographer  (1898). 


CHAPTER   XII 

CONTEMPORARY  WRITERS 

1.  The  Spirit  of  the  Age.  It  is  usually  difficult  to  appraise 
a  literary  movement  going  on  before  our  eyes.  There  is  a 
lack  of  perspective  when  we  attempt  to  determine  its  rela- 
tion to  what  has  gone  before.  We  are  in  the  midst  of  sig- 
nificant social  changes  and  we  find  it  difficult  to  see  far 
ahead.  Life  has  be- 
come so  complex  to  the 
present  generation  that 
we  accept  with  mere 
passing  attention  vari- 
ous evidences  of  scien- 
tific progress  that  would 
formerly  have  been  re- 
garded as  momentous. 
The  nineteenth  century 
produced  what  were 
conceived  to  be  the 
greatest  inventions  of 
science,  apparently  leav- 
ing little  for  posterity  to  accomplish,  yet  within  less  than 
two  decades  the  new  century  made  the  automobile  a  uni- 
versal vehicle,  perfected  the  aeroplane,  and  accomplished 
apparent  impossibilities  in  the  field  of  wireless  telegraphy 
and  telephony.  In  our  social  life  the  moving  picture  be- 
came an  international  institution,  not  only  occupying  the  time 
that  many  persons  might  otherwise  have  devoted  to  reading, 
but  developing  a  taste  for  rapid,  melodramatic  action  on  the 

389 


The  British  Museum 


390  CONTEMPORARY  WRITERS 

screen,  thus  destroying  in  many  instances  an  appreciation 
for  deliberate,  finished  art. 

2.  The  Trend  of  Literature.  During  the  past  few  dec- 
ades our  popular  magazines  have  multiplied  in  great  numbers, 
and  their  editors  are  making  increasing  demands  for  serial 
novels  and  short  stories.  It  is  conceded  from  many  a  pub- 
lisher's point  of  view  that  these  magazines  have  developed 
into  great  publicity  mediums  and  that  the  reading  matter 
they  contain  is  merely  an  excuse  for  circulating  the  profitable 
advertising  pages  or  columns.  However,  these  publishers 
realize  that  they  must  establish  relatively  high  literary 
standards  to  maintain  the  circulation  of  their  periodicals, 
and  they  make  attractive  offers  to  the  best  writers  of  the 
day  for  whatever  work  these  writers  have  at  hand.  In 
spite  of  this  constant  temptation  to  speed  production, 
much  of  our  contemporary  literature  is  well -written  and 
earns  for  its  authors  far  more  than  the  poor  hack-writers 
of  former  days  ever  dreamed  of  getting.  Unfortunately, 
the  volume  of  this  fairly  good  literature  is  now  so  great  that 
the  reading  public  hastens  from  one  novel  to  the  next  and 
in  the  discussion  of  to-day's  book  forgets  what  it  read  yester- 
day. Comparatively  few  novels  now  claim  any  widespread 
attention  six  months  after  their  publication. 

Under  such  conditions  it  is  easy  to  understand  why  we 
have  few  writers  who  are  willing  to  spend  one  or  two  years 
in  shaping  a  novel  into  a  work  of  art.  Most  of  them  prefer 
to  write  rapidly  and  to  maintain  merely  as  high  a  standard 
of  excellence  as  their  public  expects  of  them.  In  providing 
for  the  high-strung  contemporary  reader  such  literary  excita- 
tion as  he  craves,  they  have  made  the  novel  more  realistic 
than  it  was  in  the  calm  days  of  Victoria  and  have  discussed 
with  little  reserve  the  perplexing  problems  that  agitate  the 
present  generation.  The  short  story,  especially  of  the  type 
that  involves  violent  action  or  radical  ideas,  is  more  popular 
than  ever.    Poetry  was  rather  generally  neglected  up  to  the 


RUDYARD   KIPLING  391 

outbreak  of  the  Great  War  in  1914  when,  under  the  stress 
of  a  real  inspiration,  much  admirable  verse  came  into  being. 
The  fine  lyrical  quality  of  the  poetry  written  in  England 
during  those  four  fateful  years  of  strife,  when  civilization 
itself  hung  in  the  balance,  made  manifest  that  even  in  a 
prosaic,  materialistic  age  the  fundamental  virtues  still  glow 
in  the  heart  of  man. 

To-day,  in  the  immediate  wake  of  the  most  stupendous 
military  clash  of  all  history,  there  is  a  widespread  feeling 
that  the  world  must  be  made  anew.  The  old  order  of  things 
has  been  rejected;  the  present  disposition  is  to  minimize 
the  past.  Great  social  and  political  changes  seem  to  be 
impending  and  many  problems  of  Ufe  still  await  solution. 
A  nation  speaks  through  its  literary  men  as  well  as  through 
its  statesmen.  Most  of  the  writers  who  remain  to  be  con- 
sidered are  still  living,  and  to  them  we  must  look  for  whatever 
spiritual  message  England  has  for  a  world  reborn. 

RUDYARD   KIPLING    (1865- 

3.  A  New  Note  in  Literature.  A  certain  Reverend  George 
Macdonald  had  three  daughters,  each  of  whom  was  married 
to  an  artist.  One  daughter  became  the  wife  of  Sir  Edward 
Burne-Jones,  one  of  England's  leading  Pre-Raphaelite 
painters;  another  became  the  wife  of  Sir  Edward  Poynter, 
also  a  distinguished  painter  and  the  late  President  of  the 
Royal  Academy.  The  third  daughter  was  married  to  John 
Lockwood  Kipling,  better  known  as  an  illustrator  and  a 
sculptor  than  as  a  painter.  Her  husband  was  the  least 
famous  of  the  artistic  trio,  but  she  became  the  mother  of  the 
most  famous  of  contemporary  writers. 

Rudyard  Kipling  was  born  in  Bombay,  India,  in  1865 
and  at  the  age  of  five  was  sent  to  England  for  his  education 
at  the  United  Service  College  at  Westward  Ho,  Devonshire. 
Apparently  he  had  no   inclination  to  secure  a  university 


392 


CONTEMPORARY  WRITERS 


education.  He  returned  to  India  when  he  was  sixteen  and 
for  seven  years  served  as  an  assistant  editor  on  newspapers 
in  Lahore  and  Allahabad.  To  these  papers  he  contributed 
his  early  poems  and  short  stories.  The  poems  were  first 
collected  as  Departmental  Ditties  (1886).  His  first  volume 
of  short  stories,  Plain  Tales  from  the  Hills  (1888),  marked 
the  beginning  of  a  new  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  English 
short  story.    Readers  of  the  unusual  tales  asked,  "Who  is 

Rudyard  Kipling?"  Their 
curiosity  was  soon  gratified. 
Other  collections  such  as  Soldiers 
Three  (1888)  and  The  Phantmi 
Rickshaw  (1888)  followed  almost 
immediately.  Kipling  returned 
to  England  by  way  of  China  and 
America.  His  experiences  be- 
tween San  Francisco  and  New 
York  form  the  subject  of  his 
American  Notes  (1891),  which 
bore  the  same  title  as  Dickens'^ 
unmannerly  book,  but  which  was 
Rudyard  Kipling  ^^.^^^^   .^  ^  ^^^^  different,  al- 

though critical  spirit.  He  condemned  our  reporters,  our 
politics,  and  our  slang,  but  he  was  enthusiastic  in  his 
praise  of  the  American  girl.  This  opinion  he  confirmed 
in  1892  when  he  married  Caroline  Balestier  and  lived  for 
several  years  at  Brattleboro,  Vermont.  Meanwhile  he  had 
brought  out  several  other  notable  books.  The  Courting  of 
Dinah  Shadd  (1890)  contained  two  excellent  stories.  The 
Man  Who  Was  and  Without  Benefit  of  Clergy.  Life's  Handi- 
cap (1891)  included  some  of  the  best  of  his  Indian  stories. 
His  novel,  The  Light  that  Failed  (1891),  tells  a  tragic  story 
and  in  spite  of  its  merit  is  less  popular  than  his  shorter 
tales.  The  Naulahka  (1892),  another  novel,  was  written  in 
collaboration  with  his  brother-in-law.     His  next  collection 


RUDYARD   KIPLING  393 

of  poetry,  Barrack-Room  Ballads  (1892),  was  an  im- 
mediate success.  Such  poems  as  Mandalay,  Fuzzy  Wuzzy, 
and  Danny  Deever  were  at  once  accepted  as  classics. 
Many  Inventions  (1893)  was  another  fine  collection  of 
Indian  tales.  The  Jungle  Booh  (1894)  was  a  revelation 
to  English  readers  —  even  to  those  who  had  come  to  expect 
novelty  from  Mr.  Kipling.  Never  was  the  wild  life  and  the 
lore  of  the  Indian  jungle  so  wonderfully  set  forth.  A  Second 
Jungle  Book  (1895)  soon  followed  and  gave  further  illustra- 
tion of  the  author's  almost  uncanny  knowledge  of  the  four- 
footed  kind. 

4.  Kipling's  Infinite  Variety.  There  were  still  greater 
surprises  in  store  for  the  critics  who  felt  that  Mr.  Kipling 
had  written  himself  out  after  publishing  his  two  remarkable 
books  on  the  animal-lore  of  the  East.  His  third  collection 
of  poetry,  The  Seven  Seas  (1896),  added  several  notable 
poems  to  our  literature,  such  as  The  Liner  She's  a  Lady  and 
The  Mary  Gloster,  but  the  greatest  of  all  was  Mc Andrew's 
Hymn.  In  his  next  story,  Captains  Courageous  (1897),  he 
described  how  a  pampered  boy  achieved  his  social  salvation 
on  a  cod-fishing  vessel.  The  Day's  Work  (1898),  accepted 
by  many  as  Mr.  Kipling's  most  brilliant  collection  of  short 
stories,  includes  The  Bridge  Builders,  Bread  upon  the  Waters, 
The  Brushwood  Boy,  The  Maltese  Cat,  and  William  the 
Conqueror.  Concerning  the  last-named  story  one  critic  said 
that  its  heroine  was  the  only  attractive  girl  that  Mr.  Kipling 
ever  drew  —  and  he  called  her  William.  Stalky  and  Co. 
(1899)  was  received  with  less  favor.  It  is  a  boisterous  story 
of  school-life  in  England  and  included  some  of  the  author's 
own  experiences  at  Westward  Ho.  Kim.  (1901)  is  the  most 
successful  of  his  longer  stories  and  tells  a  tale  of  thrilling 
adventure  in  the  British  secret  service  in  the  Himalayas. 
The  Five  Nations  (1903),  Mr.  Kipling's  fourth  collection  of 
verse,  was  largely  devoted  to  occasional  poetry,  such  as 
The  Truce  of  the  Bear,  but  also  included  the  beautiful  Reces- 


394 


CONTEMPORARY  WRITERS 


sional  written  for  Queen  Victoria's  diamond  jubilee.  Among 
the  more  important  of  his  later  books  are  Puck  of  Pook's 
Hill  (1906),  a  most  original  and  fantastic  treatment  of 
English  history;  Actions  and  Reactions  (1909),  a  collection 
of  his  maturer  short  stories;  and  Rewards  and  Fairies 
(1910),  which  reveals  flashes  of  the  older  imaginative  manner 
and  is  a  sequel  to  Puck  of  Pook's  Hill. 

It  may  be  readily  conceded  that  Mr.  Kipling  yields  too 
frequently  to  an  inclination  to  display  his  technical  knowl- 
edge in  detail  and  that  he  has  acquired  an  elliptical  style 
that  is  at  times  annoying;  the  fact  remains  that  he  is  the 
acknowledged  master  of  the  short  story  to-day.  He  deals 
with  a  great  variety  of  unusual  subjects  in  an  unusual  way. 
He  has  traveled  widely,  has  seen  much,  and  has  observed 

well.  Few  writers  had  similar 
opportunities  to  see  life  under 
so  many  conditions  and  to 
record  it  so  fully.  There  is  re- 
markable native  vigor  in  his  best 
work  and  an  abiding  love  for  the 
great  world  of  out-of-doors.  In 
most  of  his  work  he  displays  a 
shrewd  humor  and  a  mastery 
of  phrasing  that  combine  to  win 
for  him  a  high  place  in  the 
estimation  of  his  contemporaries. 
5.  Stephen  Phillips  (1864- 
1915)  was  born  in  Somertown, 
near  Oxford,  and  attended  the 
Stratford  Grammar  School. 
He  studied  for  the  Civil  Service, 
but  became  an  actor.  His  earlier  poems,  such  as  Marpessa 
(1890)  and  Christ  in  Hades  (1896),  attracted  considerable 
attention  on  account  of  their  rich  diction  and  memorable 
lines,    but    his    fame    became    general    in    1897   when   his 


Stephen  Phillips 


JOHN   IMASEFIELD 


395 


Poems  received  the  Academy  Prize.  His  later  successes 
were  largely  in  the  field  of  poetic  drama.  Paolo  and 
Francesca  (1899)  is  a  passionate  love-drama  based  on  a 
brief  episode  in  Dante's  Inferno.  Herod  (1900)  drew  its 
inspiration  from  the  Bible  and  has  much  of  the  majestic 
and  sonorous  tone  of  Ehzabethan  drama  at  its  best.  Ulysses 
(1902),  based  on  the  Homeric  legend,  tells  the  familiar  story 
of  the  hero's  enchantment  by  Calypso,  and  his  return  to  the 
faithful  Penelope.  The  Sin  of  David  (1904)  is  not  a  Biblical 
drama,  but  a  love  story  of  the  Civil  Wars  in  England.  These 
four  finely  conceived  poetic  plays  surpass  almost  all  other 
efforts  in  that  form  since  Shelley's  The  Cenci.  Phillips's 
New  Poems  (1907)  and  his  later  dramas  were  less  favorably 
received,  and  their  comparative  failure  helped  to  embitter 
his  last  years.  Phillips  was  far  more  successful  than  Tenny- 
son and  Browning  in  writing  his  poetic  dramas  because  of 
his  practical  knowledge  of  stage- 
craft, which  enabled  him  to 
avoid  the  mistakes  usually  made 
by  poets  who  are  not  famil- 
iar with  theatrical  limitations. 
Phillips  had  the  gift  of  coining 
beautiful  individual  lines  that 
sparkle  like  jewels  in  the  midst 
of  his  stately  blank  verse.  Pos- 
terity may  yet  grant  him  a 
higher  place  than  the  present 
generation  seems  inclined  to 
concede. 
6.  John  Masefield  (1874- 
)  was  born  in  Shropshire 
and  became  a  sailor  when  a 
boy.    After  many  voyages  that 

carried  him  to  distant  ports  he  tried  his  hand  at  farm  labor- 
ing and  various  other  activities:   at  one  time  he  even  served 


John  Masefield 


396 


CONTEMPORARY  WRITERS 


as  a  helper  in  a  New  York  bar-room.  He  saw  much  of  life 
all  over  the  world  and  in  his  work  reflects  some  of  the 
brutality  and  coarseness  of  his  own  experiences.  During 
the  Great  War  he  served  with  a  hospital  unit  and  wrote  a 
book  on  the  GalHpoh  campaign.  Mr.  Masefield's  Gallipoli 
is  one  of  the  recognized  classics  of  the  war.  With  great 
power  he  narrates  the  harrowing  details  of  one  of  the  most 
disastrous  expeditions  in  England's  military  history.  His 
earlier  works  include  Salt  Water  Ballads  (1902),  On  the 
Spanish  Main  (1906),  The  Tragedy  of  Nan  (1908),  and 
Ballads  (1910).  Among  the  more  recent  works  are  a  number 
of  spirited  dramatic  tales,  told  in  verse,  such  as  The  Ever- 
lasting Mercy  (1911),  The  Widow  in  the  Bye  Street  (1912), 
Dauber  (1912),  Daffodil  Fields  (1913),  and  Reynard  the  Fox 

(1919).  Mr.  Masefield  is  the 
most  popular  of  the  younger 
generation  of  poets  who  have 
turned  to  verse  as  a  medium  for 
effective  story-telling.  He  sur- 
prises his  readers  at  every  turn 
by  crisp,  clean-cut  narration  of 
incident  in  language  unexpect- 
edly vigorous  and  appropriate. 

7.  Alfred  Noyes  (1880-  ) 
was  born  in  Staffordshire  and 
received  his  education  at  Exeter 
College,  Oxford.  He  not  only 
became  noted  as  a  poet  during 
his  undergraduate  days,  but  an- 
nounced his  intention  of  adopt- 
ing poetry  as  a  profession.  His  Loom  of  Years  (1902)  and 
The  Flower  of  Old  Japan  (1903)  were  well  received,  but  his 
fame  really  dates  from  his  Poems  (1904),  which  contained  his 
popular  poem,  The  Barrel-Organ.  As  one  punster  expressed  it, 
*'The  Barr el-Organ  made  Noyes."    Since  then  he  has  brought 


Alfred  Noyes 


RUPERT  BROOKE  397 

out  with  much  success  his  vigorous  epic  poem  Drake  (1908), 
which  was  well  received  by  a  generation  inclined  to  look 
with  disapproval  on  epic  poems;  his  Tales  of  the  Mermaid 
Tavern  (1912),  a  rollicking  collection  of  poetical  tales  giving 
entertaining  glimpses  of  the  days  of  Shakespeare,  rare  old 
Ben  Jonson,  and  Raleigh;  and  A  Salute  from  the  Fleet 
(1915),  containing  most  of  his  poetry  dealing  with  the  earlier 
period  of  the  Great  War.  In  1914  Mr.  Noyes  became  a 
Professor  of  English  at  Princeton  University  and  conducts 
his  classes  there  during  one  term  of  each  college  year.  He 
also  gives  frequent  public  lectures  and  readings  from  his 
works.  Among  the  younger  lyrical  poets  of  England  he  is 
the  best  known  and  the  most  popular.  His  verse  has  a  fine 
singing  quality,  and  he  handles  the  long  lyrical  measures 
with  a  skill  almost  equal  to  that  of  Swinburne. 

8.  Rupert  Brooke  (1887-1915)  was  a  native  of  Rugby, 
where  his  father  was  a  master;  he  received  his  education  at 
King's  College,  Cambridge.  He  was  a  poet  of  great  promise 
and  seemed  destined  to  a  high  place  among  the  younger 
singers.  His  death  during  the  Dardanelles  campaign  of 
the  Great  War  and  his  burial  on  the  island  of  Lemnos  give 
a  tender  significance  to  the  opening  lines  of  his  most  famous 
sonnet : 

If  I  should  die,  think  only  this  of  me: 

That  there's  some  corner  of  a  foreign  field 
That  is  forever  England. 

Much  of  his  poetry  was  intellectual  and  speculative  in 
quality.  He  carefully  avoided  sentimentality  in  his  interest- 
ing ruminations  on  man's  relation  to  the  world  at  large. 
His  work  showed  the  extravagance  of  youthful  genius,  but 
it  was  full  of  anticipation  of  fine  things  to  come. 

9.  Recent  Fiction.  Many  men  and  women  who  began 
to  write  novels  during  the  later  years  of  the  Victorian  era 
have  carried  on  their  work  during  the  present  century 
and  are  still  to  be  counted  among  the  leaders  in  their  chosen 


398  CONTEMPORARY  WRITERS 

field.  Only  a  few  of  the  more  notable  of  these  novelists  can 
be  mentioned  in  passing. 

William  DeMorgan  (1839-1917)  is  an  interesting  figure 
because  of  the  late  date  at  which  he  took  to  literature.  Born 
in  London,  the  son  of  the  well-known  Professor  Augustus 
DeMorgan,  he  embarked  early  on  a  business  career.  At 
first  he  became  interested  in  the  production  of  stained  glass, 
but  later  he  devoted  his  best  efforts  to  ceramics  and  became 
an  expert  in  lusters.  At  the  age  of  sixty-six  he  began  writing 
and  produced  his  first  novel,  Joseph  Vance  (1906),  which 
was  at  once  heralded  as  a  masterpiece  in  the  style  of  Dickens. 
Among  the  best  of  his  later  novels  are  Alice-for-Short  (1907), 
Somehow  Good  (1908),  and  It  Never  Can  Happen  Again 
(1909).  None  of  these  attained  quite  the  same  popularity 
as  Joseph  Vance.  The  novels  written  after  those  mentioned 
were  still  less  favorably  received.  Most  of  them  were  too 
long  to  command  the  attention  of  this  busy  age,  and  they 
were  more  like  echoes  of  Victorian  novels  than  contemporary 
fiction.  * 

Mrs.  Humphrey  Ward  (1851-1920),  a  niece  of  Matthew 
Arnold,  attracted  widespread  attention  in  religious  circles 
with  her  important  novel  Robert  Elsmere  (1888).  Later  she 
produced  many  admirable  stories  of  social  life  in  England, 
notably  Marcella  (1894),  Eleanor  (1900),  Lady  Rosens 
Daughter  (1903),  The  Marriage  of  William  Ashe  (1905), 
Fenwic¥s  Career  (1906),  Eltham  House  (1915),  and  Missing 
(1917).  The  last-named  is  the  story  of  an  English  soldier 
who  suffers  from  shell-shock  during  the  Great  War. 

Joseph  Conrad  (1857-102L6)  is  a  Slav  whose  real  name  is 
Josef  Konrad  Korzeniowski.  He  knew  no  English  until  he 
was  nineteen  and  published  nothing  until  he  was  thirty- 
eight.  For  many  years  he  was  master  of  a  sailing-vessel 
and  became  an  accomplished  linguist.  At  first  he  intended 
to  write  in  French,  but  fortunately  for  our  recent  literature 
he  choes  English.    He  developed  an  admirable,  individual 


RECENT  FICTION 


style  that  is  best  reflected  in  such  books  as  The  Nigger  on 
the  Narcissus  (1897),  Lord  Jim  (1900),  Youth  (1902), 
Typhoon  (1903),  Nostromo  (1904),  Chance  (1914),  Victory 
(1916),  and  The  Arrow  of  Gold  (1919).  Of  these  Lord  Jim 
and  Typhoon  are  perhaps  the  best  in  which  to  become  ac- 
quainted with  Conrad's  work. 
No  Enghsh  writer  of  to-day 
wields  a  style  more  racy  or 
more  carefully  wrought  than 
that  of  Conrad.  He  has  al- 
ready been  acclaimed  a  master 
of  English  prose. 

Sir  Arthur  Conan  Doyle  (1859- 
1936),  physician  and  author, 
deserves  mention  for  two  good 
historical  novels,  Micah  Clarke 
(1888)  and  The  White  Company 
(1890),  as  well  as  for  the  remark- 
able series  of  detective  stories  in 
which  Sherlock  Holmes  is  the 
central   figure.     More   recently  osepi 

he  has  compiled  an  extensive  history  of  the  Great  War. 

Eden  Phillpotts  (1862-  )  was  born  in  India,  as  the  son 
of  an  English  captain  stationed  there.  He  is  the  author  of 
numerous  juvenile  books  and  of  several  plays,  but  he  is 
best  known  for  his  novels  portraying  Dartmoor  life.  He 
has  made  that  section  of  England  quite  as  much  his  own 
as  Hardy  appropriated  the  neighboring  district  of  Wessex. 
Among  his  best  novels  are:  Lying  Prophets  (1896),  Children 
of  the  Mist  (1898),  The  StriJcing  Hours  (1901),  The  Rirer 
(1902),  The  Secret  Woman  (1905),  The  Mother  (1908),  The 
Haven  (1909),  The  Thief  of  Virtue  (1910),  Old  Delabole 
(1915),  and  Green  Alleys  (1916).  Mr.  Phillpotts  is  an  uneven 
writer  and  apparently  writes  too  nmch,  but  at  his  best  he 
compares  favorably  with  Mr.  Hardy. 


400 


CONTEMPORARY  WRITERS 


Maurice  Hewlett  (1861-  )  is  a  London  barrister  who 
spent  several  years  as  a  keeper  of  the  Land  Revenue 
Records  and  thus  became  acquainted  with  the  archaic  dic- 
tion that  marks  his  earlier  novels.  His  charming  book, 
Earthwork  out  of  Tuscany  (1895),  was  followed  by  a  suc- 
cession of  romantic  and  histori- 
cal novels:  The  Forest  Lovers 
(1898),  Richard  Yea  and  Nay 
(1900),  and  The  Queen's  Quair 
(1904).  Among  his  later  social 
novels  are  a  few  that  have  met 
with  favor,  but  Mr.  Hewlett 
was  most  successful  in  his  in- 
terpretation of  the  glamor  and 
romance  of  medieval  days.  He 
has  also  written  several  volumes 
of  poetry  and  poetical  plays. 

WiUiam  J.  Locke    (1863-         ) 
was     born     in     Trinidad     and 
educated    at     Cambridge.      He 
Maurice  Hewlett  studied    architecture,    but   later 

turned  with  more  zest  to  literature.  His  satirical  and  social 
novels  include  Idols  (1898),  The  Morals  of  Marcus  Ordeyne 
(1905),  The  Beloved  Vagabond  (1906),  Septimus  (1909), 
Stella  Maris  (1913),  and  The  Fortunate  Youth  (1914). 
Locke's  works  reveal  a  combination  of  quizzical  humor 
and  subtlety  of  thought  that  detaches  him  somewhat  from 
most  of  his  contemporaries. 

Robert  Hichens  (1864-  )  was  born  in  Kent  and  was 
trained  for  a  musical  career.  His  first  literary  success  was 
The  Green  Carnation  (1894),  an  anonymous  satire  on  the 
esthetic  craze  of  the  day.  He  also  wrote  The  Londoners 
(1897),  The  Woman  with  the  Fan  (1904),  The  Garden  of  Allah 
(1905),  The  Call  of  the  Blood  (1906),  and  A  Spirit  in  Prison 
(1908).     These  are  well-told  stories,   rather  melodramatic 


RECENT   FICTION  401 

at  times,  but  related  with  more  skill  and  finish  than  is 
customary  in  such  writing. 

Leonard  Merrick  (1864-  )  was  born  in  London  and 
educated  at  Brighton  College.  He  was  intended  for  the 
law,  but  had  a  varied  career  on  the  stage  and  in  the  dia- 
mond mines  of  South  Africa.  He  wrote  many  plays  and 
short  stories,  but  has  been  most  successful  in  writing  such 
novels  as  Cynthia  (1896),  The  Actor-Manager  (1898),  Conrad 
in  Quest  of  His  Youth  (1904),  and  The  Position  of  Peggy 
(1911).  His  best  novels  deal  with  theatrical  life  and  reflect 
much  of  his  own  experience. 

Israel  Zangwill  (1864-  ),  a  Jewish  writer,  was  born 
in  London  and  became  a  journalist.  His  earHer  success 
was  achieved  by  his  various  collections  of  short  stories  deal- 
ing with  Jewish  life:  Children  of  the  Ghetto  (1892),  Ghetto 
Tragedies  (1893),  and  Dreamers  of  the  Ghetto  (1898).  Among 
his  more  successful  novels  are  The  Master  (1895)  and  The 
Mantle  of  Elijah  (1900).  After  the  great  popular  expression 
of  approval  that  greeted  his  play,  The  Melting  Pot  (1909), 
he  undertook  a  series  of  dramas  on  various  subjects,  such 
as  The  War  God  (1911),  The  Next  Religion  (1912),  and 
Plaster  Saints  (1914).  None  of  these,  however,  won  the 
same  degree  of  favor  as  The  Melting  Pot. 

Herbert  G.  Wells  (1866-  )  was  born  in  Kent  and  studied 
under  Huxley  in  the  Royal  College  of  Science.  He  first 
attracted  attention  as  a  writer  of  weird  scientific  stories  in 
the  manner  of  Jules  Verne.  Among  these  were  The  Time 
Machine  (1895),  The  Invisible  Man  (1897),  and  The  War 
of  the  Worlds  (1898).  From  these  exercises  he  developed 
an  interest  in  social  evolution  and  produced  a  series  of  inter- 
esting stories  in  which  he  portrayed  a  world  made  better 
than  we  know  it  to-day.  These  stories  include  When  the 
Sleeper  Awakes  (1899),  Anticipations  (1901),  Mankind  in 
the  Making  (1903),  A  Modern  Utopia  (1905),  and  New 
Worlds  for  Old  (1908).     The  third  phase  of  Mr.  Wells's 


402 


CONTEMPORARY  WRITERS 


career  as  a  novelist  produced  stories  of  more  general  interest 
in   which   he  discussed  with   much  acumen  various  social 

problems  of  the  day.  Among 
these  stories  are  Tono-Bungay 
(1909),  Ann  Veronica  (1909), 
and  Marriage  (1912).  Mr. 
Brifling  Sees  If  Throvgh  (1916) 
was  the  most  popular  of  the 
novels  that  had  the  Great  War 
for  a  background.  Joan  and 
Peter  (1918)  discusses  the  Eng- 
lish system  of  education  and 
exposes  its  shortcomings.  Mr. 
Wells  is  usually  very  much  in 
earnest  and  frankly  uses  fiction 
as  a  means  to  an  end.  He  aims 
Herbert  G.  Wells  to  make  his  readers  think 

seriously  and  he  employs  his  story  as  a  lure  to  induce  such 
thought. 

Arnold  Bennett  (1867-  )  is,  like  Mr.  Noyes,  a  Stafford- 
shire man.  He  used  his  early  surroundings  as  a  setting  for 
his  stories  of  "The  Five  Towns"  which  include  some  ad- 
mirable studies  of  provincial  Enghsh  Ufe.  Mr.  Bennett 
writes  much  and  unevenly.  A  great  deal  of  his  earlier  work 
is  negligible.  His  reputation  was  estabhshed  on  a  firm 
basis  by  The  Old  Wives'  Tale  (1908),  which  narrates  an  enter- 
taining story  of  "The  Five  Towns"  and  of  Paris  during 
the  Franco-Prussian  War.  This  successful  novel  \\as  fol- 
lowed by  a  trilogy  of  stories,  Clayhanger  (1910),  Hilda 
Lessways  (1911),  and  These  Twain  (1914).  Among  his 
numerous  plays  and  satiric  comedies  the  best  is  Milestones 
(1916). 

John  Galsworthy  (1867-  ),  a  native  of  Coombe,  Surrey, 
and  an  honor  graduate  of  Oxford,  has  won  his  laurels  both 
as  novelist  and  dramatist.     He  is  an  author  whose  work 


RECENT  FICTION 


403 


has  shown  gradual  improvement  in  technical  skill  and  who 
writes  with  a  keener  appreciation  for  style  than  most  of  his 
contemporaries.  He  excels  in  character  analysis  and  in 
the  satirical  reahsm  with  which  he  depicts  the  clashes  of 
caste  in  England.  Among  the  best  of  his  novels  are  The 
Man  of  Devon  (1901),  The  Island 
Pharisees  (1904),  The  Man  of 
Property  (1906),  The  Country 
House  (1907),  The  Patrician 
(1911),  The  Freelands  (1915), 
and  Sainfs  Progress  (1919).'  As 
a  dramatist  Mr.  Galsworthy  is 
even  a  more  determined  social 
teacher  than  as  a  novelist.  He 
exposes  the  distinctions  made 
between  rich  and  poor  offenders, 
lays  bare  the  iniquities  of  the 
penal  system,  and  makes  mani- 
fest the  motives  that  underlie 
the  perpetual  strife  between  capi- 
tal and  labor.  Among  his  best 
plays  are  The  Silver  Box  (1906), 
Joy  (1907),  Strife  (1909),  Justice  (1910),  The  Pigeon  (1912), 
and  The  Eldest  Son  (1912).  Mr.  Galsworthy  has  also 
written  some  of  the  most  charming  short  stories  in  recent 
literature. 

While  most  of  these  novelists  carried  the  Victorian  tradi- 
tion into  contemporary  literature,  there  are  distinct  tenden- 
cies noticeable  in  the  more  recent  works  of  Messrs.  Hewlett, 
Locke,  Wells,  and  Galsworthy.  There  is  now  an  inchnation 
to  discuss  more  intimately  and  more  realistically  the  lives 
of  the  characters  in  their  relationship  to  the  growing  com- 
plexity of  modern  life.  The  historical  novel  is  generally 
neglected  in  current  fiction,  because  our  novelists  realize 
that  in  view  of  the  rapid  and  far-reaching  adjustment  of 


John  Galsworthy 


404  CONTEMPORARY  WRITERS 

contemporary  society  our  prime  interest  lies  in  the  portrayal 
of  the  hfe  that  is  going  on  before  our  eyes.  Still  further 
detachment  from  the  Victorian  novel  is  noted  in  the  stories 
written  by  such  younger  men  as  Messrs.  Hugh  Walpole, 
Compton  MacKenzie,  Coningsby  Dawson,  Gilbert  Cannan, 
and  Frank  Swinnerton,  and  by  such  younger  women  as  Miss 
May  Sinclair  and  Miss  Sheila  Kaye-Smith.  However,  the 
time  is  not  yet  ripe  for  determining  the  relative  significance 
of  these  and  others  of  the  present  generation  of  writers. 

10.  Recent  Drama.  During  the  early  Victorian  period 
there  was  no  important  literary  drama.  The  poetic  plays 
written  by  Tennyson,  Browning,  and  others  did  not  make 
stage-history.  A  decided  improvement  in  play -writing  for 
the  stage  came  shortly  after  1880,  when  Sir  Arthur  W. 
Pinero  and  Mr.  Henry  Arthur  Jones  began  their  important 
careers  as  practical  dramatists.  Within  another  decade 
the  influence  of  the  great  Norwegian  playwright,  Henrik 
Ibsen  (1828-1906),  made  itself  felt  in  England  as  well  as 
on  the  Continent.  He  did  much  to  strip  stage  technique  of 
its  artificial  trappings  and  to  make  the  presentation  of  drama 
more  realistic. 

Sir  Arthur  W.  Pinero  (1855-  ),  the  son  of  a  London 
solicitor,  became  an  actor  in  early  manhood,  but  turned 
dramatist  at  twenty-six.  His  earlier  plays  were  not  im- 
portant, but  as  he  improved  his  work,  he  revealed  a  grasp 
of  stage-craft  unsurpassed  by  his  contemporaries.  He 
discarded  the  conventional  "happy  ending"  to  let  his 
serious  drama  work  itself  out  to  its  logical  conclusion.  He 
is  at  all  times  a  practical  playwright  who  writes  for  the  stage 
and  not  for  literary  effect.  Among  the  more  than  forty 
plays  that  he  wrote  are:  The  Magistrate  (1885),  Sweet 
Lavender  (1888),  The  Profligate  (1889),  The  Second  Mrs. 
Tanqueray  (1893),  Trelawney  of  the  Wells  (1898),  The  Gay 
Lard  Quex  (1899),  Iris  (1901),  His  House  in  Order  (1906), 
The    Thunderbolt    (1908),   and   Mid   Channel    (1909).     His 


RECENT  DRAMA  405 

later  plays  are  less  important.  Most  critics  regard  The 
Second  Mrs.  Tan^ueray  as  the  most  notable  of  all  these 
plays.  The  date  of  its  production  is  accepted  as  the  be- 
ginning of  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  English  drama. 

Henry  Arthur  Jones  (1851-  )  is  not  only  a  playwright 
of  note,  but  he  has  done  valiant  service  as  a  writer  and 
lecturer  to  bring  about  a  better  understanding  of  the  mode]m 
theater  and  its  ideals.  His  first  popular  success  was  T^pn 
with  a  melodramatic  play,  The  Silver  King  (1882),  whfei 
was  followed  by  Saints  and  Sinners  (1884),  The  Middlemdn 
(1889),  The  Dancing  Girl  (1891),  The  Liars  (1897),  Mrs. 
Dane's  Defense  (1900),  and  The  Hypocrites  (1906).  Mr. 
Jones  is  not  as  successful  as  Sir  Arthur  Pinero  in  handling 
his  themes  or  in  pursuing  the  newer  technique  of  his  art. 
His  plays  are  frequently  well  built  to  a  strong  climax  and 
are  then  permitted  to  end  badly,  because  the  dramatist  has 
not  the  courage  of  his  own  convictions.  J 

Oscar  Wilde  (1856-1900),  a  talented  writer  of  poems  and 
stories,  also  produced  a  number  of  clever  satirical  comedies, 
of  which  the  best  are  Lady  Windermere's  Fan  (1892),  A 
Woman  of  No  Importance  (1893),  The  Ideal  Husband 
(1895),  and  The  Importance  of  Being  Earnest  (1895).  The 
characters  in  his  plays  talk  in  brilliant  epigram  and  delight 
in  paradox.  They  are  more  intent  upon  saying  smart 
things  than  upon  revealing  any  real  personality. 

George  Bernard  Shaw  (1856-  )  was  born  in  Dublin, 
but  went  to  London,  where  he  became  a  critic  of  literature 
and  music.  He  wrote  numerous  pamphlets  on  socialism 
and  a  group  of  novels  of  no  great  merit.  He  is  best  known 
for  a  remarkable  series  of  plays  characterized  by  much  wit, 
originality  of  treatment,  and  long  explanatory  prefaces 
that  are  frequently  better  than  the  plays  themselves.  From 
the  first  he  used  fiction  and  drama  for  social  propaganda. 
Among  the  best  of  his  plays  are  Arms  and  the  Man  (1894), 
Candida   (1895),     You    Never   Can    Tell   (1896),   Man  and 


406 


CONTEMPORARY  WRITERS 


Superman  (19015),  Major  Barbara  (1905),  Fanny^s  First 
Play  (1911),  Androcles  and  the  Lion  (1913),  and  Pygmalion 
(1914).  Mr.  Shaw  has  been  very  successful  in  advertising 
his  social  heresies  and  in  keeping  public  attention  focused 
as   much   as  possible   upon  himself.     He  has  entertaining 

opinions  on  all  subjects  and 
usually  expresses  his  ideas  with 
little  show  of  reluctance.  He 
has  been  heralded  as  a  leading 
intellectual  force  of  his  age  and 
just  as  emphatically  condemned 
as  a  sensational  propagandist  of 
no  abiding  worth.  His  plays  are 
usually  not  well  constructed,  and 
his  characters  inherit  the  au- 
thor's fondness  for  talking  too 
much.  Many  readers  of  the 
plays  are  uncertain  whether  Mr. 
Shaw  takes  himself  seriously,  or 
expects  them  to  take  him  seri- 
ously. He  pokes  fun  at  the 
doctors,  the  soldiers,  the  law-makers,  the  moralists,  and, 
above  all,  at  those  who  still  entertain  any  sentimental 
ideas  concerning  love,  courtship,  and  marriage.  It  is  a 
topsy-turvy  world  in  which  his  characters  riiove  and  say 
things  that  Mr.  Shaw  feels  the  world  ought  to  know.  All 
the  brilliancy  of  his  wit,  however,  does  not  obscure  the 
fact  that  he  is  more  successful  in  ridiculing  the  defects  of 
the  social  system  than  in  supplying  an  adequate  remedy. 
Sardonic  raillery  will  not  make  the  world  anew.  The  exalted 
philosophy  taught  by  Browning  or  Ruskin  is  more  likely 
to  shape  the  course  of  Anglo-Saxon  civilization  than  the 
clever  paradoxes  of  Mr.  Shaw. 

Sir  James  M.  Barrie  (1860-         )  was  born  in  Kirriemuir, 
Scotland,   and  educated  at   the   University  of  Edinburgh. 


George  Bernard  Shaw 


RECENT  DRAMA 


407 


After  a  brief  experience  as  a  journalist  at  Nottingham  he 
went  to  London  and  won  his  first  important  Hterary  success 
with  his  short  stories  deahng  with  Scottish  hfe.  A  Window 
in  Thrums  (1889)  became  very  popular,  and  The  Little 
Minister  (1891)  even  more  so. 
The  Little  White  Bird  (1902)  is 
one  of  the  most  charming  of  his 
whimsical  studies  of  child-life. 
As  a  playwright  he  first  became 
generally  known  as  the  author 
of  The  Professor's  Love  Story 
(1895),  which  was  followed  by 
the  great  success  of  his  drama- 
tization of  The  Little  Minister 
(1897).  These  were  followed  by 
Quality  Street  (1903),  The  Admir- 
able Crichton  (1903),  Peter  Pan 
(1904),  What  Every  Woman 
Knows  (1908),  A  Kiss  for  Cin- 
derella   (1916) 

plays  are  thin  in  dramatic  texture,  but  are  written  with 
quaintly  humorous  dialogue,  with  an  occasional  touch  of 
pathos.  Peter  Pan^  a  delightful  fantasy  of  fairy  realms, 
pirate  ships,  and  the  tree-tops,  is  frequently  revived  at 
Christmas  time  in  London  and  in  New  York;  it  promises  to 
become  an  enduring  favorite  among  Barrie's  plays.  Grown- 
ups who  have  never  seen  Peter  Pan  should  borrow  a  child, 
if  necessary,  and  take  the  youngster  to  see  the  wonderful 
land  of  make-believe. 

Granville  Barker  (1877-  )  is  a  Londoner  who  has  been 
associated  with  the  stage  since  boyhood.  His  experience 
carried  him  from  acting  to  managing,  and  from  managing 
to  playwriting.  His  plays  have  not  been  popular,  but  they 
are  marked  by  strongly  individual  characteristics  that  make 
them  notable  in  contemporary  drama.     Such  plays  as   The 


Sir  James  M.  Barrie 
and    Dear    Brutus    (1919.)     Most    of   his 


408  CONTEMPORARY  WRITERS 

Marrying  of  Ann  Leete  (1902),  The  Voysey  Inheritance 
(1905),  Waste  (1907),  The  Madras  House  (1910),  and  several 
notable  adaptations  of  foreign  plays  justify  the  hope  that 
Mr.  Barker  may  yet  win  a  high  place  among  the  dramatists. 

11.  The  Celtic  Renaissance.  During  the  nineteenth 
century  there  developed  in  Ireland  a  gradual  increase  of 
interest  in  the  Celtic  past,  but  it  was  not  until  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Gaelic  League  that  the  movement  made  much 
headway.  The  League  brought  together  those  who  were 
chiefly  concerned  in  stimulating  interest  in  a  new  national 
literature  for  Ireland.  The  leading  spirits  in  the  movement 
were  Dr.  Douglas  Hyde,  who  was  especially  active  in  reviving 
the  old  Gaelic  language  and  in  making  the  ancient  Celtic 
literature  familiar  in  translation,  and  Mr.  George  W.  Russell, 
who  was  born  at  Lurgan,  Ireland,  and  achieved  distinction 
as  a  painter  and  journalist.  His  poetry  became  widely 
known  under  the  signature  of  A.  E.  Much  of  his  verse 
is  mystical  and  seeks  to  interpret  the  spirit  of  old  Celtic 
mythology. 

Lady  Augusta  Gregory  (1852-  )  was  born  in  Galway 
and  has  engaged  in  various  fields  of  literary  work.  She  has 
written  essays  on  numerous  topics,  collected  Celtic  folk- 
lore, and  translated  from  the  Gaelic  a  wealth  of  romantic 
literature  as  fascinating  as  Morte  (T Arthur.  She  took  part 
in  establishing  the  Irish  Literary  Theater  (1899)  and  wrote 
many  little  Irish  comedies  and  farces  that  were  well  received 
at  the  Abbey  Theater  in  Dublin  and  during  the  American 
tours  of  the  Irish  Players  some  years  ago.  Among  her  more 
popular  plays  are  Spreading  the  News  (1904),  The  Gaol  Gate 
(1906),  Hyacinth  Halvey  (1906),  The  Rising  of  the  Moon 
(1907),  and  The  Bogie  Men  (1913). 

William  Butler  Yeats  (1865-  )  was  born  in  Dublin 
and  became  an  art  student,  but  turned  to  literature  at  twenty- 
one.  He  was  active  in  the  Irish  Literary  Theater  movement 
and  is.  looked  upon  as  the  niost  gifted  of  the  Irish  poets 


THE  CELTIC  RENAISSANCE  409 

and  playwrights.  His  writings  include  The  Wanderings  of 
Oisin  (1889),  The  Countess  Cathleen  (1892),  The  Celtic 
Twilight  (1893),  Poems  (1895),  The  Wind  among  the  Reeds 
(1899),  The  Shadowy  Waters  (1900),  and  Deirdre  (1906). 
There  is  a  subtle  flavor  of  Gaelic  mysticism  about  his  work 
and  a  fondness  for  symbolism  that  suggests  his  literary 
kinship  with  the  Belgian  writer,  M.  Maeterlinck. 

John  M.  Synge  (1871-1909)  was  born  in  Newton  Little, 
near  Dublin,  and  educated  at  Trinity  College,  Dublin. 
He  traveled  rather  aimlessly  about  Europe  and  spent  much 
of  his  life  in  Paris.  At  the  prompting  of  Mr.  Yeats  he  took 
up  the  writing  of  the  Celtic  plays  to  which  he  owes  his  fame^ 
These  are  called  In  the  Shadow  of  the  Glen  (1903),  The 
Tinker's  Wedding  (1903),  Riders  to  the  Sea  (1904),  The  Well  of 
the  Saints  (1905),  The  Playboy  of  the  Western  World  (1907), 
and  Deirdre  of  the  Sorrows  (1910).  There  is  some  question 
as  to  whether  these  unusual  plays  are  really  typical  of  Celtic 
tradition,  but  they  are  remarkable  for  their  dramatic  con- 
struction. Riders  to  the  Sea  is  one  of  the  most  impressive 
short  tragedies  in  our  literature.  The  pathetic  figure  of 
old  Maurya,  who  has  lost  her  husband  and  five  sons  at  sea, 
and  whose  only  hope  is  her  sixth  and  last  son  Bartley,  is 
worthy  of  Greek  drama.  Tragedy  broods  over  that  rude 
home  from  the  moment  the  curtain  rises;  we  know  that  the 
last,  overwhelming  blow  is  to  fall  upon  the  afflicted,  widowed 
mother.  Many  critics  regard  this  play  as  the  finest  drama 
that  the  Celtic  Renaissance  has  produced. 

Lord  Dunsany  (1878-  )  was  educated  at  Eton  and  at 
Sandhurst.  He  became  a  soldier  and  saw  service  in  the 
South  African  War  and  in  the  Great  War.  His  plays  are 
all  short,  but  possess  unforgettable  individuality.  The 
Glittering  Gate,  a  dialogue  between  two  dead  burglars  at 
the  portals  of  Heaven,  was  produced  in  1909.  It  was  fol- 
lowed by  King  Argimenes  and  the  Unknown  Warrior  (1911), 
The  Gods  of  the  Mountain  (1911),   The  Golden  Doom  (1912), 


410  CONTEMPORARY   WRITERS 

A  Night  at  an  Inn  (1916),  The  Queens  Enemies  (1916), 
and  The  Laughter  of  the  Gods  (1917).  He  also  published 
several  notable  volumes  of  tales  and  legends.  His  work 
reveals  the  strong  influence  of  the  old  fairy-tales  and  The 
Arabian  Nights.  It  is  marked  by  mysticism  and  symbolism. 
The  element  of  surprise  is  ever  present.  One  cannot  tell 
what  is  coming  next  in  a  Dunsany  play.  To  this  quality 
Lord  Dunsany  owes  much  of  his  reputation  as  a  dramatist 
who  is  doing  things  never  accomplished  before  on  the  stage. 

12.  Recent  Essayists.  The  modern  essay  has  a  more 
important  place  in  literature  than  might  seem  possible  in 
view  of  the  commanding  importance  of  fiction.  The  leaduig 
reviews  and  magazines  still  devote  much  of  their  space  to 
critical  prose.  There  is  a  direct,  influential  appeal  in  a 
weU -written  essay  that  can  never  be  attained  in  a  novel  or 
a  short  story.  It  is  usually  an  appeal  to  the  intellect,  not 
to  the  emotions.  There  are  countless  readers  who  do  not 
care  for  fiction  in  any  form,  but  who  will  respond  to  the 
stimulus  of  a  good  essay.  Many  of  the  authors  already 
mentioned,  such  as  Mr.  Masefield,  Mr.  Zangwill,  Mr.  Wells, 
Mr.  Bennett,  Mr.  Galsworthy,  Mr.  Shaw,  and  Mr.  Yeats, 
are  making  important  contributions  to  contemporary 
critical  literature.  A  few  more  may  be  cited  whose  work 
lies  largely  in  that  field. 

Arthur  Christopher  Benson  (1862-  )  is  one  of  three 
gifted  sons  of  the  late  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  He  was 
educated  at  Eton  and  at  King's  College,  Cambridge.  For 
eighteen  years  he  was  a  teacher  at  Eton  and  more  recently 
Master  of  Magdalene  College,  Cambridge.  Besides  some 
creditable  poetry  and  several  important  volumes  of  bi- 
ography, he  has  written  Essays  (1896),  The  Schoolmaster 
(1902),  The  Thread  of  Gold  (1906),  and  From  a  College 
Window  (1906). 

Arthur  Symons  (1865-  )  was  born  in  Wales  of  Cornish 
parentage.     He  has  an  assured  place  among  contemporary 


CONCLUSION  411 

minor  poets,  but  is  more  highly  esteemed  for  his  critical 
volumes,  which  include  The  Symbolist  Movement  in  Litera- 
ture (1899),  Studies  in  Prose  and  Verse  (1904),  Studies  in 
Seven  Arts  (1906),  and  Figures  of  Several  Centuries  (1917). 

Edward  V.  Lucas  (1868-  )  is  a  charming  essayist  and 
compiler  of  anthologies.  His  book,  A  Wanderer  in  Holland 
(1905),  was  followed  by  others  devoted  to  London,  Paris, 
Florence,  and  Venice.  Among  his  other  works  are  The 
Open  Road  (1899)  and  Old  Lamps  for  New  (1911).  He 
has  won  the  thanks  of  all  lovers  of  good  literature  by  his 
fine  edition  of  the  works  of  Lamb. 

Gilbert  K.  Chesterton  (1874-  )  was  born  in  London  and 
educated  at  St.  Paul's  School.  He  is  a  vivacious  novelist 
and  critic  who  writes  much  for  contemporary  periodicals. 
Mr.  Chesterton  has  not  only  some  admirable  satirical 
stories  to  his  credit,  but  is  also  notable  as  a  poet  and  play- 
wright. He  is  fond  of  epigram  and  paradox.  Some  of  the 
most  fantastic  of  modern  ideas  are  expressed  in  his  pages. 
Those  who  del  ght  in  unusual  literature  should  read  such 
books  as  The  Club  of  Queer  Trades  (1905),  Heretics  (1905), 
and  Manalive  (1912).  He  has  also  wrought  some  good 
mystery  stories,  such  as  The  Man  Who  Was  Thursday  (1908), 
The  Innocence  of  Father  Brown  (1911),  and  The  Wisdom  of 
Father  Broum  (1914). 

13.  Conclusion.  Our  survey  of  the  living  English  writers 
is  far  from  complete,  but  it  is  sufficiently  extensive  to  give 
some  idea  of  the  great  amount  of  creditable  literature  that 
is  now  being  produced.  At  the  same  time  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  this  literature  lacks  the  distinctive,  out- 
standing qualities  manifested  by  the  great  Victorians  at 
their  best.  In  view  of  the  insistent  demand  for  new  work, 
our  wTiters  not  only  give  out  hastily  prepared  manuscripts, 
but  they  are  usually  willing  to  turn  from  fiction  to  essays 
or  from  poetry  to  drama  as  the  demand  develops.  It  is 
true    that   Dickens,    Thackeray,    and    George   Eliot   wrote 


412  CONTEMPORARY   WRITERS 

miscellaneous  prose  and  verse  as  well  as  novels,  but  it  is 
obvious  that  they  gave  their  best  talent  to  fiction.  There 
are  no  conspicuous  names  to-day  that  stand  beside  such 
commanding  figures  as  Carlyle  and  Ruskin  in  the  field  of 
prose,  or  Wordsworth,  Tennyson,  and  Browning  in  the  field 
of  poetry.  Although  we  have  become  accustomed  to  a 
respectably  high  level  of  mediocre  achievement,  we  are 
always  ready  to  proclaim  the  genius  of  any  writers  who 
may  arise  to  make  notable  contribution  to  that  great  heritage 
of  literature  which  is  England's  crowning  glory. 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  READING  AND  STUDY 

The  purpose  of  these  suggestions  is  to  offer  real  assistance  to 
the  teacher,  the  student,  and  the  general  reader.  An  exhaustive 
bibliography  makes  an  impressive  appearance  in  print,  but  is 
usually  more  bewildering  than  enlightening.  In  the  following 
lists  only  those  titles  have  been  included  that  are  likely  to 
prove  useful.  The  citations  have  been  made  as  brief  as  possible 
in  order  that  the  list  may  be  comprehensive  in  its  scope.  More 
detailed  information  can  readily  be  obtained  by  consulting 
the  cited  works  in  any  field  or  period  of  literature.  To  avoid 
needless  repetition,  the  general  authorities  mentioned  at  the 
beginning  of  the  list  are  not  quoted  again  under  specific  periods 
or  individual  authors.  Only  in  a  few  cases  are  there  definite 
recommendations  for  class-room  study.  As  a  rule  the  teacher 
can  determine  how  much  time  is  available  for  each  author  and 
will  regulate  the  program  accordingly.  To  quote  the  titles  of 
the  shorter  poems  and  prose  pieces  found  in  most  of  the  well- 
edited  anthologies  would  be  a  waste  of  time  and  space.  The 
recommended  readings  are  intended  for  beginners;  more  ad- 
vanced students  will  have  no  difficulty  in  choosing  other  selec- 
tions from  the  works  mentioned. 

The  reader  should  familiarize  himself  with  the  general  plan 
of  this  entire  list  before  attempting  to  use  any  section  of  it 
apart  from  the  rest. 

ENGLISH   HISTORY 

A  general  knowledge  of  English  history  is  essential  to  a  proper 
understanding  of  the  literature  of  the  country.  Among  the 
best  of  the  shorter  histories  are  those  by  Andrews,  Cheyney, 
and  Wrong,  More  recent  and  more  extensive  is  Cross's  History 
of  England  and  Great  Britain.  A  well-illustrated  work  is  Gardi- 
ner's Student's  History  of  England.  Green's  Short  History  of 
the  English  People  and  Tickner's  Social  and  Industrial  History 
stress  social  developments.  Traill's  Social  England  (6  vols.) 
is  a  mine  of  interesting  material  for  reference. 

413 


414    SUGGESTIONS  FOR  READING  AND  STUDY 

TOPOGRAPHY   OF   ENGLAND 

The  best  general  reference  works  descriptive  of  the  country 
are  the  authoritative  guide-books  published  by  Murray  and 
Baedeker.  Among  the  entertaining  books  of  travel  in  various 
parts  of  England  may  be  mentioned  Addison,  The  Spell  of 
England;  Beckitt,  The  Spirit  of  the  Downs;  Bond,  The  English 
Cathedrals;  Bradley,  The  Romance  of  Northumberland;  Cram, 
The  Ruined  Abbeys  of  Great  Britain;  Ditchfield,  The  Cathedrals 
of  Great  Britain;  Emerson,  On  English  Lagoons;  Francis, 
London;  Frapie,  Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland;  Gribble, 
Romance  of  the  Oxford  Colleges;  Harper,  Rural  Nooks  around 
London;  Johnson,  Among  English  Hedgerows;  Johnson,  The 
Land  of  Heather;  Kimball,  An  English  Cathedral  Journey; 
Lucas,  A  Wanderer  in  London;  Page,  Coasts  of  Devon;  Raile, 
Cambridge  and  its  Story;  Shelley,  Inns  and  Taverns  of  Old 
London;  Singleton,  London;  Snell,  A  Book  of  Exmoor;  Stawell, 
Motor  Tours  in  the  West  Country;  Treves,  Highways  and 
Byways  of  Dorset;  Wack,  In  Thames  Land;  Wade,  Rambles 
in  Somerset;  Whiting,  The  Lure  of  London. 

LITERARY   ENGLAND 

Still  more  interesting  to  the  student  of  literature  are  the 
many  charming  books  that  tell  of  literary  rambles  about  the 
country  and  of  visits  to  the  homes  of  authors.  Notable  in 
this  group  are  the  following:  Adcock,  Booklovers'  London; 
Adcock,  Famous  Homes  and  Literary  Shrines  of  London;  Bail- 
don,  Homes  and  Haunts  of  Famous  Authors;  Bates,  From 
Gretna  Green  to  Land^s  End;  Boynton,  London  in  English 
Literature;  Bradley,  The  English  Lakes;  Brassington,  Shake- 
speare's Homeland;  Cook,  Homes  and  Haunts  of  John  Ruskin; 
Crockett,  The  Scott  Country;  Dougall,  The  Burns  Country; 
Harper,  The  Hardy  Country;  Huckel,  Through  England  with 
Tennyson;  Hutton,  Literary  Landmarks  of  Edinburgh;  Hutton, 
Literary  Landmarks  of  London;  Kitton,  The  Dickens  Country; 
Lang,  Literary  London;  Lang,  The  Poets'  Country;  Masson, 
In  the  Footsteps  of  the  Poets;  Melville,  The  Thackeray  Country; 
Olcott,  The  Country  of  Sir  Walter  Scott;  Parkinson,  Scenes 
from  the  George  Eliot  Country;  Rawnsley,  Literary  Associations 
of  the  English  Lakes;  Robertson,  Wordsworthshire ;  Salmon, 
Literary    Rambles   in   the    West    of    England;    Sharp,    Literary 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  READING   AND   STUDY    415 

Geography  and  Travel  Sketches;  Sloan,  The  Carlyle  Country; 
Snell,  The  Blackmore  Country;  Ward,  The  Canterbury  Pilgrim- 
age; Windle,  The  Wessex  of  Thomas  Hardy;  Wolfe,  A  Literary 
Pilgrimage. 

GENERAL   BIOGRAPHY 

The  standard  reference  work  for  biographical  accounts  of 
English  notables  of  every  sort  is  the  Dictionary  of  National 
Biography  in  sixty-three  volumes  with  two  supplements  of 
three  volumes  each.  This  work,  however,  includes  only  de- 
ceased writers.  For  living  authors  the  best  general  reference 
is  Who's  Who,  which  is  issued  annually.  See  also  Encyclopedia 
Britannica  and  New  International  Cyclopedia  for  dead  or 
living  writers.  The  English  Men  of  Letters  series  includes 
sixty-seven  volumes  of  individual  biographies.  The  Great 
Writers  series  has  twenty-six  such  sketches,  somewhat  shorter, 
but  with  detailed  bibliographies. 

THE   ENGLISH   LANGUAGE 

The  best  dictionaries  for  general  reference  are  the  New 
Standard  Dictionary  and  Webster's  New  International  Dictionary. 
The  Century  Dictionary  has  more  detailed  definitions  and 
numerous  literary  quotations.  The  best  reference  for  the 
history  of  English  words  is  the  scholarly  New  English  Dictionary 
which  is  also  called  the  Oxford  Dictionary.  It  is  the  most 
comprehensive  of  all  dictionaries,  but  is  too  inclusive  for  popular 
use. 

For  a  summary  of  the  development  of  the  English  language 
and  the  building  up  of  the  vocabulary  the  following  books  may 
be  consulted:  Bradley,  The  Making  of  English;  Emerson, 
History  of  the  English  Language;  Greenough  and  Kittredge, 
Words  and  Their  Ways  in  English  Speech;  Krapp,  Modern 
English;  Lounsbury,  History  of  the  English  Language. 

HISTORIES   OF   ENGLISH   LITERATURE 

The  most  recent  and  in  many  respects  the  best  of  the  larger 
works  in  this  field  is  the  Cambridge  History  of  English  Literature 
in  fourteen  volumes.  It  is  the  work  of  many  specialists  working 
in  collaboration  and  has  admirable  reference  lists.  Other 
works  of  general  reference  are:  Chambers,  Cyclopedia  of  English 
Literature    (3    vols.);     Moulton,    Library   of   Literary    Criticism 


416    SUGGESTIONS  FOR  READING   AND  STUDY 

(8  vols.);  Morley,  English  Writers  (11  vols.);  Hales,  Handbooks 
of  English  Literature  (12  vols.);  Smeaton,  The  Channels  of 
English  Literature  (11  vols.).  The  more  readable  of  the  long 
histories  of  English  literature  are  those  by  Garnett  and  Gosse 
(4  vols.) ;  Nicoll  and  Seceombe  (3  vols.) ;  and  Jusserand  (3  vols.). 
Popular  one-volume  works  have  been  written  by  Gosse,  Lang, 
Muir,  Ryland,  Saintsbury,  and  Taine. 

POETRY   AND   VERSIFICATION 

Alden,  English  Verse;  Alden,  Introduction  to  Poetry:  Court- 
hope,  History  of  English  Poetry  (6  vols.);  Dixon,  English  Epic 
and  Heroic  Poetry;  Guerber,  The  Book  of  the  Epic;  Gummere, 
The  Beginnings  of  Poetry;  Gummere,  Handbook  of  Poetics; 
Gummere,  The  Popular  Ballad;  Ker,  Epic  and  Romance; 
Lowes,  Convention  and  Revolt  in  Poetry;  Mackail,  The  Springs 
of  Helicon;  Matthews,  A  Study  of  Versification;  New  bolt, 
A  New  Study  of  Poetry;  Perry,  A  Study  of  Poetry;  Rhys,  Eng- 
lish Lyric  Poetry;  SainishuTy,  History  of  English  Prosody;  Schel- 
ling.  The  English  Lyric;   Stedman,  The  Nature  of  Poetry. 

DRAMA  AND   DRAMATIC   TECHNIQUE 

Archer,  Play-making;  Baker,  Dramatic  Technique;  Chambers, 
The  Medieval  Stage  (2  vols.);  Chandler,  Aspects  of  Modern 
Drama;  Freytag,  Technique  of  the  Drama;  Hamilton,  The 
Theory  of  the  Theater;  Hunt,  The  Play  of  To-Day;  Jones, 
The  Renaissance  of  the  English  Drama;  Lewisohn,  The  Modern 
Drama;  Matthews,  The  Principles  of  Play -making ;  Matthews, 
Study  of  the  Drama;  Price,  The  Technique  of  the  Drama;  Schel- 
ling,  English  Drama;  Thorndike,  Tragedy. 

THE   ENGLISH   NOVEL 

Burton,  Masters  of  the  English  Novel;  Chandler,  The  Litera- 
ture of  Roguery  (2  vols.) ;  Cross,  The  Development  of  the  English 
Novel;  Dunlop,  History  of  Fiction;  Follett,  The  Modern  Novel; 
Hamilton,  Materials  and  Methods  of  Fiction;  Home,  Technique 
of  the  Novel;  Jusserand,  The  English  Novel  in  the  Time  of 
Shakespeare;  Lanier,  The  English  Novel;  Lathrop,  The  Art 
of  the  Novelist;  Masson,  British  Novelists  and  Their  Styles; 
Melville,  Victorian  Novelists;  Perry,  A  Study  of  Prose  Fiction; 
Phelps,  The  Advance  of  the  English  Novel;  Raleigh,  The  English 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  READING  AND   STUDY    417 

Novel;  Saintsbury,  The  English  Novel;  Simonds,  Introduction 
to  the  Study  of  English  Fiction;  Stoddard,  Evolution  of  the 
English  Novel;  Tuckerman,  History  of  English  Prose  Fiction; 
Warren,  A  History  of  the  Novel  Previous  to  the  Seventeenth 
Century;   Williams,  Two  Centuries  of  the  English  Novel. 

THE   SHORT   STORY 

Albright,  The  Short  Story:  Its  Principles  and  Structure; 
Barrett,  Short  Story  Writing;  Canby,  The  Short  Stcyry  in  English; 
Esenwein,  Studying  the  Short  Story;  Esenwein,  Writing  the 
Short  Story;  Grabo,  The  Art  of  the  Short  Story;  Matthews, 
The  Philosophy  of  the  Short  Story;  O'Brien,  Great  Modern 
English  Short  Stories;  Pitkin,  The  Art  and  the  Business  of 
Short  Story  Writing. 

LITERARY   CRITICISM 

Arnold,  Essays  in  Criticism  (2  vols.);  Atkins,  English  Criti- 
cism; Bennett,  Literary  Taste'  How  to  Form  It;  Cooper, 
Theories  of  Style;  Gayley  and  Scott,  Literary  Criticism;  Greens- 
let,  The  Essay;  Haney,  Early  Reviews  of  English  Poets;  John- 
son, Elements  of  Literary  Criticism;  More,  Shelburne  Essays 
(9  vols.);  Quiller-Couch,  Studies  in  Literature;  Saintsbury, 
Essays  in  Literature;  Saintsbury,  A  History  of  English  Criticism; 
Saintsbury,  Loci  Critici;  Stephen,  Hours  in  a  Library;  Trent, 
Greatness  in  Literature;  Vaughan,  English  Literary  Criticism; 
Walker,  The  English  Essay  and  Essayists;  Winchester,  Princi- 
ples of  Literary  Criticism;  Worsfold,  Judgment  in  Literature; 
Worsfold,  Principles  of  Criticism;  Peacock,  English  Essays, 
Ba£on  to  Stevenson;  Makower  and  Blackwell,  A  Book  of  English 
Essays. 

LETTER-WRITING 

Coult,  Letters  from  Many  Pens;  Fuess,  Selected  English 
Letters;  Lucas,  The  Gentlest  Art;  Lock  wood  and  Kelly,  Speci- 
mens of  Letter-Writing ;  Williams,  English  Letters  and  Letter- 
Writers  of  the  Eighteenth  Century;  Rees,  Nineteenth  Century 
Letters;   Duckitt  and  Wragg,  English  Letters. 

SELECTIONS   AND   ANTHOLOGIES 

During  recent  years  many  excellent  books  of  selections  from 
English  poetry  and  prose  have  appeared,   making  it  possible 


418    SUGGESTIONS  FOR  READING  AND  STUDY 

for  the  student  to  become  familiar  with  the  best  writings  of 
the  various  authors  without  the  trouble  of  searching  for  such 
masterpieces  himself.  The  most  desirable  anthologies  of 
poetry  are  these:  Manly,  English  Poetry;  Pancoast,  Standard 
English  Poems;  Bronson,  English  Poems  (4  vols.);  Ward, 
English  Poets  (5  vols.);  Quiller-Couch,  Oxford  Book  of  English 
Verse;  Palgrave,  Golden  Treasury  (2  series);  Leonard,  The 
Pageant  of  English  Poetry;  Stebbing,  Five  Centuries  of  English 
Verse;  Page,  British  Poets  of  the  Nineteenth  Century;  Stedman, 
Victorian  Anthology;  Dixon  and  Grierson,  The  English  Parnas- 
sus. The  most  useful  collections  of  prose  pieces  are:  Manly, 
English  Prose;  Pancoast,  Standard  English  Prose;  Craik, 
English  Prose  (5  vols.);  Leonard,  The  Pageant  of  English 
Prose;  Balston,  English  Prose  from  Mandeville  to  Ruskin; 
Garnett,  English  Prose  from  Elizabeth  to  Victoria;  Broadus 
and  Gordon,  English  Prose  from  Ba^on  to  Hardy.  Several 
admirable  anthologies  contain  both  poetry  and  prose:  CunliflFe, 
Century  Readings  in  English  Literature;  Greenlaw  and  Handford, 
The  Great  Tradition;  Newcomer  and  Andrews,  Twelve  Centuries 
of  English  Poetry  and  Prose;  Pancoast,  English  Prose  and 
Verse  from  Beowulf  to  Stevenson.  Other  useful  anthologies  of 
various  kinds  are:  Arber,  British  Anthologies  (poetry,  10  vols.); 
Chambers,  English  Pastorals;  Evans,  English  Masques;  Hadow, 
Oxford  Treasury  of  English  Literature  (3  vols.);  Henley,  English 
Lyrics;  Henley  and  Whibley,  A  Book  of  English  Prose;  Herford, 
English  Tales  in  Verse;  Lobban,  English  Essays;  Quiller- 
Couch,  Oxford  Book  of  Victorian  Verse;  Quiller-Couch,  Oxford 
Book  of  Ballads;  Schelling,  Elizabethan  Lyrics;  Schelling, 
Seventeenth  Century  Lyrics;  Tatlock  and  Martin,  Representative 
English  Plays;  Weston,  Chief  Middle  English  Poets;  Weston, 
Romance,  Vision,  and  Satire.  Besides  these  varied  collections, 
nearly  every  important  series  of  annotated  classics  now  has 
special  volumes  of  ballads,  poems,  short  stories,  essays,  and 
letters.  A  well-chosen  assortment  of  these  anthologies  should 
be  in  every  class-room.  They  provide  a  maximum  of  literary 
material  in  proportion  to  their  cost  and  are  especially  useful 
because  they  furnish  the  text  of  the  best  works  by  minor  writers 
who  might  otherwise  be  overlooked. 

LITERATURE   SERIES 

Various  publishers  now  issue  uniform  and  inexpensive  series 
of  classic   texts,   some   with  editorial  annotation,   others   with 


SUGGESTIONS   FOR  READING  AND   STUDY    419 

brief  introductory  notes.  The  most  extensive  of  these  series 
is  Everyman's  Library  (Button),  which  is  gradually  approach- 
ing the  goal  of  a  thousand  titles.  Other  series  that  enjoy  much 
popularity  are  Astor  Poets  (Crowell);  Cambridge  Edition  of 
English  Poets  (Houghton,  Mifflin) ;  Cambridge  English  Classics 
(Putnam);  Camelot  Series  (Scott);  Canterbury  Poets  (Scott); 
Cassell's  National  Library  (Cassell);  Chandos  Classics  (Warne); 
English  Classics  (Macmillan) ;  Globe  Edition  of  English  Poets 
(Macmillan);  Golden  Treasury  Series  (Macmillan);  Mermaid 
Series  of  English  Dramatists  (Scribner);  Morley's  Universal 
Library  (Routledge);  New  Medieval  Library  (Duffield);  Oxford 
Poets  (Clarendon  Press);  Peoples  Library  (Cassell);  Warwick 
Library  (Blackie);  World's  Classics  (Clarendon  Press). 

More  definitely  intended  for  class-room  study  are  the  anno- 
tated classics  of  which  there  are  numerous  series  in  England 
and  in  America.  Among  the  best  known  of  these  are:  Academy 
Classics  (Allyn  and  Bacon);  Arber's  English  Reprints  (Mac- 
millan) Athenaeum  Press  Series  (Ginn);  Belles  Lettres  Series 
(Heath);  Cambridge  Literature  Series  (Sanborn);  Canterbury 
Classics  (Rand,  McNally);  Caxton  Classics  (Scribner);  Claren- 
don Press  Series  (Clarendon  Press);  Eclectic  English  Classics 
(American  Book);  English  Readings  (Holt);  Gateway  Series 
(American  Book);  Heath's  English  Classics  (Heath);  King's 
Classics  (Luce);  Lake  English  Classics  (Scott,  Foresman); 
Lakeside  Classics  (Ainsworth);  Longman's  English  Classics 
(Longman);  Macmillan  Pocket  Classics  (Macmillan);  May- 
nard's  English  Classics  (Merrill);  Merrill's  English  Texts 
(Merrill);  Pitt  Press  Series  (Cambridge  University);  Riverside 
Literature  Series  (Houghton,  Mifflin);  Rolfe's  Shakespeare 
(American  Book);  Scribner's  English  Classics  (Scribner); 
Silver  Series  (Silver,  Burdett);  Standard  English  Classics 
(Ginn);  Students'  Series  of  English  Classics  (Sibley);  Temple 
Classics  (Button);  Temple  Bramatists  (Button);  Twentieth 
Century  Classics  (Appleton). 

Every  teacher  should  have  catalogues  of  the  more  important 
series  at  hand  and  should  note  the  new  titles  that  are  constantly 
being  added  to  most  of  the  lists. 


420    SUGGESTIONS  FOR  READING  AND  STUDY 


PERIODS   OF   LITERATURE 

THE  OLD   ENGLISH   PERIOD 

General:  Brooke,  History  of  Early  English  Literature;  Lewis, 
Beginnings  of  English  Literature;  Snell,  Age  of  Alfred;  Ten 
Brink,  Early  English  Literature  (3  vols.).  See  also  Ker,  The 
Dark  Ages;  Marks,  Early  English  Hero-  Tales;  Gummere,  The 
Oldest  English  Epic.  The  best  anthologies  for  the  period  are 
Pancoast  and  Spaeth,  Early  English  Poems;  Cook  and  Tinker, 
Selected  Translations  from  Old  English  Prose;  Cook  and  Tinker, 
Selected  Translations  from  Old  English  Verse;  Faust  and  Thomp- 
son, Old  English  Poems. 

Beowulf.  Read  Child's  prose  translation  (Riverside).  Other 
prose  translations  are  by  Arnold  and  Earle;  verse  translations 
by  Lumsden,  Garnett,  Morris,  Hall. 

Minor  Poetry.  Read  the  selections  in  the  anthologies.  Caed- 
mon  and  Cynewulf  have  been  translated  by  Kennedy.  The 
Exeter  Book  has  been  translated  by  Gollancz.  See  also  Cook's 
translation  of  Judith,  and  Tennyson's  Battle  of  Brunanhurh. 
Old  English  Prose.  Read  the  extracts  in  the  anthologies. 
Bede's  History  and  The  Chronicle  may  be  had  in  translation 
in  Everyman's  Library.  For  most  purposes  the  anthology 
extracts  from  Bede,  Alfred,  Aelfric,  and  The  Chronicle  are 
adequate. 

THE  ANGLO-NORMAN   PERIOD 

General:  Baldwin,  An  Introduction  to  English  Medieval  Litera- 
ture; Schofield,  English  Literature  from  the  Norman  Conquest 
to  Chaucer.  See  also  Ker,  Epic  and  Romance;  Lawrence,  The 
Medieval  Story;  Maynadier,  Arthur  in  the  English  Poets;  Nutt, 
The  Legends  of  the  Holy  Grail;  Saintsbury,  The  Flourishing  of 
Romance  and  the  Rise  of  Allegory;  Trevelyan,  The  Land  of 
Arthur. 

Prose.  Anthology  extracts  may  be  supplemented  by  the  transla- 
tion of  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth  (Everyman's  Library)  and  the 
modernized  version  of  Ancren  Riwle  called  The  Nun's  Rule 
by  Morton. 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  READING  AND  STUDY    421 

Romances.  The  best  modern  versions  are  in  Weston,  Chief 
Middle  English  Poets,  and  in  Weston,  Romance,  Vision^  and 
Satire.  See  also  Weston's  Sir  Gawain  and  the  Green  Knight. 
Extracts  ma}'  be  found  in  Bronson,  English  Poems,  Most  of 
the  important  romances  are  summarized  in  Morley,  English 
Writers. 

Minor  Poetry.  There  is  little  occasion  for  going  beyond  the 
poems  included  in  the  anthologies.  The  Pearl  may  be  read 
complete  in  translations  by  Weston,  Mead,  Mitchell,  Jewell, 
Osgood,  and  Gollancz. 

THE  AGE   OF   CHAUCER 

General:  Browne,  Chaucer's  England;  Coulton,  Chaucer  and 
his  England;  Snell,  The  Age  of  Chaucer,  See  also  Jusserand, 
English  Wayfaring  Life  in  the  Fourteenth  Century;  Snell,  The 
Fourteenth  Century.  Good  selections  are  found  in  Neilson  and 
Webster,  Chief  British  Poets  of  the  Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth 
Centuries. 

Mandeville.  Complete  modernized  version  in  English  Classics 
Series;  an  abbreviated  version  in  Cassell's  National  Library. 
The  anthology  extracts  do  not  represent  this  work  adequately. 
Wyclifife.  The  selected  English  works  have  been  edited  by 
Arnold.  There  are  also  extracts  in  the  English  Classics  Series 
and  in  the  anthologies. 

Piers  Plowman.  The  standard  edition  is  by  Skeat.  A  modern 
version  in  Everyman's  Library  is  in  verse;  there  is  also  a  prose 
translation  by  Warren. 

Gower.  The  best  edition  is  by  G.  C.  Macaulay,  who  has  also 
edited  selections  from  Confessio  Amantis,  The  anthology 
extracts  are  generally  adequate. 

Chaucer.  There  are  excellent  one-volume  editions  by  Skeat 
and  by  Pollard.  Modernized  versions  have  been  made  with 
varying  success  by  Mackaye,  Prose  Version  of  Chaucer;  Tappan, 
Stories  from  Chaucer;  Tatlock  and  Mackaye,  The  Modern 
Reader's  Chaucer.  See  also  Kittredge,  Chaucer  and  his  Poetry; 
Root,  The  Poetry  of  Chaucer;  Thompson,  Tales  of  the  Canterbury 
Pilgrims;  Pollard,  Chaucer  Primer;  Legouis,  Chaucer;  Ward, 
Chaucer.  The  Prologue,  The  Nun's  Priest's  Tale,  and  The 
Squire's  Tale  should  be  read  complete.  The  Knight's  Tale 
may  be  read  later  in  Dryden's  version.  Early  poems  and 
minor  poems  are  well  represented  in  the  anthologies. 


422    SUGGESTIONS  FOR  READING  AND  STUDY 

THE   RENAISSANCE 

General:  Saintsbury,  The  Earlier  Renaissance;  Smith,  The 
Transition  Period;  Snell,  The  Age  of  Transition.  See  also 
Einstein,  The  Italian  Renaissance  in  England;  Schofield, 
Chivalry  in  English  Literature. 

Minor  Poets.  Such  poets  as  Lydgate,  Hoccleve,  and  tlie  Scot- 
tish writers  are  well  represented  in  the  anthologies. 
Popular  Ballads.  The  standard  collection  is  by  Child  (5  vols.). 
More  convenient  editions  have  been  prepared  by  Bates,  A 
Ballad  Book;  Gummere,  Old  English  Ballads;  Johnson,  Popular 
British  Ballads  (4  vols.);  Sargent  and  Kittredge,  English  and 
Scotch  Popular  Ballads;  Quiller-Couch,  Oxford  Book  of  Ballads; 
and  numerous  inexpensive  collections  in  the  annotated  classics 
series.  See  Gummere's  The  Popular  Ballad.  The  anthology 
extracts  should  be  supplemented  by  readings  from  the  anno- 
tated editions. 

Morte  d'Arthur.  Standard  text  is  the  Globe  edition.  It  should 
be  read  in  such  editions  as  those  prepared  by  Mead,  Child, 
Swiggett,  and  Wragg  and  Martin.  The  anthologies  cannot  do 
justice  to  this  work.  See  also  Pyle,  Stories  of  King  Arthur; 
Lanier,  The  Boy*s  King  Arthur;  Lang,  Tales  of  the  Round 
Table.  No  information  concerning  Malory  is  available. 
More.  English  versions  of  Utopia  may  be  found  in  Camelot, 
Temple,  Cassell's  National  Library,  Everyman's  Library,  and 
other  series.  The  anthologies  have  extracts  that  are  altogether 
unsatisfactory.  Every  student  should  be  familiar  with  this 
important  book. 

Ascham.    The  Scholemaster  has  been  edited  by  Wright  and  by 
Arber.    For  other  extracts  the  anthologies  will  suffice. 
Wyatt  and  Surrey.    TotteVs  Miscellany  was  edited  by  Arbcr, 
but  the  anthologies  have  adequate  specimens  of  these  poets. 


THE   ELIZABETHAN  AGE 

General :  Saintsbury,  History  of  Elizabethan  Literature;  Schel- 
ling,  English  Literature  in  the  Lifetime  of  Shakespeare;  Seccombe 
and  Allen,  The  Age  of  Shakespeare.  See  also  Boas,  Shakespeare 
and  his  Predecessors ;  Creighton,  The  Age  of  Elizabeth;  Hannay, 
The  Later  Renaissance;  Shakespeare'' s  England  (2  vols.,  Oxford); 
Stephenson,  Shakespeare^ s  London;  Stephenson,  The  Elizabethan 
People;   Thornbury,  Shakespeare^ s  England, 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  READING  AND  STUDY    423 

Elizabethan  Prose.  The  minor  prose  writers,  Hke  Lyly,  Lodge, 
Greene,  and  others,  are  well  represented  in  the  anthologies. 
Sidney.  There  are  editions  of  Arcadia  by  Sommer  and  by 
Baker.  The  Defense  of  Poesie  has  been  edited  by  Cook.  Feuille- 
rat  has  prepared  a  scholarly  edition  of  Sidney's  Works.  There 
are  biographies  by  Symonds,  Addleshaw,  and  Wallace.  In 
most  cases  anthology  extracts  are  satisfactory. 
Raleigh.  The  selections  in  Arber's  Reprints  may  be  used  to 
supplement  the  extracts  given  in  the  anthologies,  which  are 
rather  brief.  There  are  entertaining  biographies  by  Edwards, 
Gosse,  and  Stebbing. 

Bacon.  There  are  innumerable  editions  of  the  Essays  in  anno- 
tated form.  These  are  more  desirable  than  unedited  texts 
because  of  Bacon's  learned  references.  At  least  eight  or  ten 
of  the  best  Essays  should  be  read.  The  anthologies  cannot  do 
justice  to  Bacon,  as  a  rule,  but  a  few  have  as  many  Essays  as 
have  been  indicated.  There  are  biographies  by  Church  and 
Nichols,  and  a  valuable  critical  essay  by  Macaulay. 
Minor  Poetry.  The  selections  in  Schelling's  Elizabethan  Lyrics 
and  in  Carpenter's  English  Lyric  Poetry  may  be  used  in  addi- 
tion to  the  anthologies.  See  also  Arber's  Spenser  Anthology 
and  Shakespeare  Anthology. 

Spenser.  The  Globe  and  Cambridge  Editions  are  complete. 
The  Faerie  Queene  may  be  read  in  Everyman's  Library.  After 
reading  the  first  canto  of  Book  I  the  anthologies  may  be  fol- 
lowed for  other  extracts.  Annotated  editions  are  desirable  in 
the  case  of  Spenser.  See  Church,  Life  of  Spenser  and  Carpenter, 
Outline  Guide  to  the  Study  of  Spenser. 

The  Drama.  The  most  comprehensive  histories  are  Schelling, 
Elizabethan  Drama  (2  vols.);  Ward,  English  Dramatic  Litera- 
ture (3  vols.);  Brooke,  The  Tudor  Drama.  For  the  development 
of  the  theater,  see  Albright,  The  Shakespearian  Stage;  Lawrence, 
The  Elizabethan  Playhouse;  Thorndike,  Shakespeare's  Theater. 
For  the  religious  drama,  see  Bates,  Early  Religious  Drama,  and 
Gayley,  Plays  of  our  Forefathers.  Everyman  may  be  read  in 
various  annotated  editions  and  in  Everyman's  Library.  For 
selections  from  other  religious  plays,  the  last- mentioned  volume 
may  be  supplemented  by  Pollard,  English  Miracle  Plays,  or 
Manly,  Specimens  of  Pre-Shakespearean  Drama  (3  vols.). 
Manly 's  collection  is  also  excellent  for  the  predecessors  of 
Shakespeare.  These  and  other  dramatists  of  the  period  may 
be  read  in  the  Temple  Dramatists,  the  Belles  Lettres  Series, 


424    SUGGESTIONS  FOR  READING  AND  STUDY 

the  Mermaid  Series,  and  in  Everyman's  Library.  The  best 
anthologies  of  plays  of  the  period  are  Neilson,  Chief  Elizabethan 
Dramatists;  Williams,  Specimens  of  Elizabethan  Drama^  and 
Thayer,  Best  Elizabethan  Plays.  See  also  Gay  ley.  Representative 
English  Comedies,  and  Oxford  Treasury  of  English  Literature. 
Shakespeare.  The  most  desirable  plays  for  class-reading  are 
Midsummer  NighVs  Dream,  Richard  III,  Henry  IV  {Part  /), 
Henry  V,  The  Merchant  of  Venice,  As  You  Like  It,  Twelfth 
Night,  Julius  Caesar,  Hamlet,  Macbeth,  King  Lear,  Othello, 
The  Tempest,  and  Cymbeline.  These  are  available  in  numerous 
excellent  editions  for  study.  The  Globe  Shakespeare  and  the 
Oxford  Shakespeare  are  excellent  for  general  reference  as  com- 
plete one-volume  editions.  The  scholarly  Furness  Variorum 
edition  is  a  monument  of  erudition.  The  Concordance  by  Bartlett 
and  the  Grammar  by  Abbott  are  useful.  The  best  of  the  more 
recent  biographies  are  those  by  Lee,  Smeaton,  and  Rolfe. 
Valuable  handbooks  of  Shakespeare  have  been  prepared  by 
Luce,  McCracken,  and  Neilson  and  Thorndike.  See  also 
Baker,  Development  of  Shakespeare  as  a  Dramatist;  Bradley, 
Shakespearean  Tragedy;  Brandes,  William  Shakespeare;  Brass- 
ington,  Shakespeare's  Homeland;  Coleridge,  Lectures  on 
Shakespeare;  Corson,  Introduction  to  Shakespeare;  Dowden,  In- 
troduction to  Shakespeare;  Dowden,  Shakespeare,  His  Mind  and 
Art;  Lounsbury,  Shakespeare  as  a  Dramatic  Artist;  Matthews, 
Shakespeare  as  a  Playwright;  Moulton,  Shakespeare  as  a  Dra- 
matic Artist;  Rolfe,  Shakespeare  the  Boy;  Ulrici,  Shakespeare's 
Dramatic  Art;  Wendell,  William  Shakespeare.  This  array  of 
valuable  books  must  not  obscure  the  fact  that  it  is  more  im- 
portant to  read  Shakespeare  than  to  read  about  him. 

THE  PURITAN  AGE 

General:  Masterman,  The  Age  of  Milton;  Wendell,  The 
Temper  of  the  Seventeenth  Century.  See  also  Dowden,  Puritan 
and  Anglican;  Gosse,  Jacobean  Poets;  Grierson,  The  First 
Half  of  the  Seventeenth  Century. 

Puritan  Prose.  Fairly  good  extracts  from  Taylor,  Walton, 
Browne,  and  Fuller  may  be  found  i^  the  anthologies.  Holy 
Living,  Holy  Dying,  The  Compleat  Angler,  and  Religio  Medici 
may  be  had  in  Cassell's  National  Library.  The  Compleat 
Angler  is  available  in  numerous  other  editions.  See  also  Penni- 
man,  A  Book  About  the  English  Bible. 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  READING  AND  STUDY    425 

Bunyan.  Part  I  of  Pilgrim's  Progress  should  be  read  entire. 
There  are  various  annotated  editions,  but  Bunyan  may  be 
read  profitably  without  notes.  Life,  Froude,  Brown,  Venables. 
Criticism,  Macaulay,  Tulloch,  Woodberry. 

Puritan  Poetry.  Adequate  selections  from  Donne,  Herbert, 
Vaughan,  and  the  Caroline  Poets  will  be  found  in  the  anthologies. 
See  also  Schelling,  Seventeenth  Century  Lyrics;  Quiller-Coueh, 
Studies  in  Literature,  and  Holliday,  Cavalier  Poets. 
Milton.  Read  Jj'' Allegro,  II  Penseroso,  Lycidas,  and  Comus; 
also  extracts  from  Book  I  of  Paradise  Lost.  The  anthologies 
will  serve  for  the  sonnets  and  for  prose  selections.  Complete 
poetical  works  are  available  in  the  Globe  and  Cambridge 
Editions.  Life,  Pattison,  Garnett,  Raleigh,  Trent.  Criticism, 
Corson,  Arnold,  Macaulay,  Lowell,  Dowden. 

THE   RESTORATION 

General:  Elton,  The  Augustan  Ages;  Garnett,  The  Age  of 
Dry  den;  Gosse,  From  Shakespeare  to  Pope.  See  also  Chase, 
The  English  Heroic  Play;  Nettleton,  English  Drama  of  the 
Restoration. 

Poetry.  Good  selections  from  Waller,  Butler  and  other  Restora- 
tion Poets  are  given  in  most  of  the  anthologies. 
The  Diarists.  The  standard  edition  of  Pepys  is  by  Wheatley, 
who  also  wrote  the  best  biography  of  Pepys.  There  are  also 
convenient  editions  in  Everyman's  Library  and  Cassell's 
National  Library.  The  selections  in  the  anthologies  are  not 
adequate,  and  should  be  supplemented  by  reading  from  a  larger 
text.     Evelyn  is  less  important. 

The  Drama.  These  plays  are  not  desirable  for  class-room  study, 
but  are  well  represented  by  the  collection  in  Everyman's  Library. 
More  complete  texts  are  available  in  the  Mermaid  Dramatists. 
Dryden.  Read  Palamon  and  Arcite,  besides  the  anthology 
extracts.  The  complete  poetical  works  are  in  the  Globe  Edition 
and  Cambridge  Edition.  The  best  edition  of  the  essays  is  by 
Ker.  Life,  Saintsbury.  Criticism,  Macaulay,  Lowell,  Collins, 
Masson,  Hazlitt. 

THE   CLASSICAL   PERIOD 

General:  Dennis,  The  Age  of  Pope;  Gosse,  Eighteenth  Century 
Literature;  Seccombe,  The  Age  of  Johnson.  See  also  Millar, 
The  Mid- Eighteenth  Century;  Stephen,  English  Literature  in 
the  Eighteenth  Century;    Thackeray,  English  Humorists;    Daw- 


426    SUGGESTIONS  FOR  READING   AND  STUDY 

son,  Makers  of  Modern  Prose;  Ashton,  Social  Life  in  the  Reign 
of  Queen  Anne;  Saintsbury,  The  Peace  of  the  Augustans. 
Addison  and  Steele.  Read  the  De  Coverley  Papers  and  other 
extracts  from  The  Spectator.  These  are  available  in  many 
annotated  editions.  The  anthologies  do  not  usually  print 
enough  of  these  papers,  but  give  adequate  specimens  of  Addi- 
son's poetry.  See  biographies  (of  Addison)  by  Courthope; 
(of  Steele)  by  Dobson,  and  by  Aitken.  Criticism,  Macaulay, 
Gosse,  Dobson,  Thackeray. 

Swift.  Read  selections  from  the  first  and  second  parts  of 
Gulliver  s  Travels,  and  follow  the  anthologies  for  extracts  from 
the  minor  works.  Life,  Stephen,  Collins,  Craik,  Forster. 
Criticisniy  Ainger,  Birrell,  Dobson,  Masson,  Thackeray. 
Pope.  Read  The  Rape  of  the  Lock,  extracts  from  Essay  on  Criti- 
cism and  the  Iliad.  Use  the  anthologies  for  other  selections. 
Complete  poetical  works  in  Globe  and  Cambridge  Editions. 
Numerous  annotated  texts  available.  Life,  Paston,  Stephen, 
Courthope,  Symonds.  Criticism,  Lowell,  Stephen,  DeQuincey. 
The  Rise  of  the  Novel.  See  the  titles  quoted  under  "  The 
English  Novel  "  on  pages  416-417. 

DeFoe.  Every  student  should  be  familiar  with  Robinson 
Crusoe.  Selections  from  The  Journal  of  the  Plague  and  the 
anthology  extracts  may  be  read  in  class.  Life,  Minto,  Wright, 
Lee,  Whitten.     Criticism,  Stephen,  Trent. 

The  Novelists.  The  works  of  the  novelists  are  not  adapted  for 
class-room  reading,  apart  from  the  few  extracts  in  the  an- 
thologies. For  further  study  of  these  writers  the  following 
references  are  cited:  Richardson:  Life,  Dobson,  Thomson; 
Criticism,  Dobson,  Stephen,  Traill.  Fielding:  Life,  Dobson, 
Godden,  Lawrence;  Criticism,  Stephen,  Lowell,  Thackeray. 
Smollett:  Life,  Hannay,  Smeaton,  Chambers;  Criticism, 
Thackeray,  Henley,  Dobson.  Sterne:  Life,  Cross,  Melville, 
Fitzgerald,  Traill;  Criticism,  Thackeray,  Bagehot. 
Johnson.  The  extracts  in  the  anthologies  are  sufficient  for 
most  purposes.  Excellent  abridged  versions  of  Boswell's 
Johnson  are  now  obtainable  in  annotated  editions.  This  work 
is  more  significant  than  Johnson's  own  writings.  Life,  Stephen, 
Grant.  Criticism,  Macaulay,  Stephen,  Birrell,  Raleigh. 
Goldsmith.  Read  The  Deserted  Village  and  The  Vicar  of  Wake- 
field. Poetical  works  may  be  had  in  Globe  Edition  and  Astor 
Poets.  Life,  Irving,  Dobson,  Black,  Moore.  Criticism,  Ma- 
caulay, Thackeray,  DeQuincey,  Dobson. 


SUGGESTIONS   FOR  BEADING   AND   STUDY    427 

Burke.  Read  Conciliation  with  America  or  American  Taxation, 
also  extracts  from  Letter  to  a  Noble  Lord.  Burke  should  be  read 
in  an  annotated  edition,  in  view  of  the  importance  of  his  prose. 
Few  writers  better  repay  close  study  of  their  texts.  Many 
excellent  editions  of  the  more  important  speeches  are  available. 
Life,  Morley,  Prior.  Criticism,  Birrell,  Dowden,  MacCunn. 
Gibbon.  Anthologies  have  extracts  that  are  usually  sufficient. 
The  best  edition  of  the  works  is  by  Bury.  Life,  Morison. 
Criticism,  Birrell,  Stephen,  Bagehot,  Harrison. 
Sheridan.  The  Rivals  and  The  School  for  Scandal  are  both 
included  in  several  annotated  series.  Life  and  Criticism,  Rae, 
Oliphant,  Sanders. 

EARLY   ROMANTICISM 

General:  Beers,  English  Romanticism  in  the  Eighteenth  Century; 

Phelps,    The    Beginnings   of  the    English    Romantic    Movement; 

Minto,  Literature  of  the  Georgian  Era;    Vaughn,   The  Romantic 

Revolt. 

Early  Poets.    Extracts  from  Thomson,  Young,  and  Collins  are 

to  be  found  in  the  usual  anthologies  and  are  fairly  representative. 

It  will  not  be  necessary  to  consult  larger  collections. 

Ossian.    Read    the    extracts    in    the    anthologies.      See    Nutt's 

Ossian  and  Ossianic  Literature. 

Percy.    Available  in  Astor  Poets  and  other  inexpensive  editions. 

Less  desirable  for  class-study  than  later  editions  of  ballads. 

Romantic  Novel.    Walpole's   Castle  of  Otranto  may  be  had  in 

Cassell's  National  Librarj^     Criticism,  Stephen,  Greenwood. 

Chatterton.    The  anthology  extracts  are  sufficient.      Life,  Russell, 

Wilson,  Masson. 

Gray.    The  Elegy  and  the  best  of  the  other  poems  are  printed 

in  most  of  the  anthologies.      The  best  edition  of  the  works  is 

by  Gosse.     Life,   Gosse.      Criticism,  Lowell,  Arnold,  Stephen, 

Dobson. 

Cowper.    Joh7i  Gilpin's  Ride  should  be  read  in  addition  to  the 

usual  anthology  extracts.     Complete  poetical  works  in  the  Globe 

Edition.      Life,   Smith,   Wright,   Southey.      Criticism,   Stephen, 

Bagehot,  Brooke,  Dobson,  Woodberry,  More. 

Crabbe.    Several    poems    are    accessible    in    Cassell's    National 

Library,  but  the  anthology  extracts  are  adequate.     Life,  Kebbel, 

Ainger,  Huchon.     Criticism,  Woodberry,  Stephen,  Saintsbury, 

Hazlitt. 


428    SUGGESTIONS  FOR  READING  AND  STUDY 

Blake.  The  best  poems  are  included  in  the  anthologies.  Lijcy 
Chesterton,  Gilchrist,  Selincourt,  Story,  Symons.  Criticism, 
Swinburne,  Cary,  More,  Benson. 

Bums.  The  Cotter  s  Saturday  Night  and  other  important  poems 
should  be  read  in  annotated  editions,  which  are  more  satis- 
factory than  the  anthologies,  especially  on  account  of  the  use 
of  dialect  in  various  poems.  Complete  poetical  works  are 
available  in  the  Globe  and  Cambridge  Editions.  Life,  Shairp, 
Henley,  Blackie,  Setoun,  Henderson.  Criticism,  Carlyle,  Steven- 
son, Brooke,  Forster,  Neilson. 

THE   ROMANTIC   PERIOD 

General :  Beers,  English  Romanticism  in  the  Nineteenth  Century; 
Herford,  The  Age  of  Wordsworth;  Omond,  The  Romantic 
Triumph;  Elton,  A  Survey  of  English  Literature  from  1780  to 
1830.  See  also  Dowden,  The  French  Revolution  and  English 
Literature;  Symons,  The  Romantic  Movement  in  English  Litera- 
ture; Shairp,  Poetic  Interpretation  of  Nature;  Palgrave,  Land- 
scape in  Poetry;  Hancock,  The  French  Revolution  and  English 
Poets. 

Wordsworth.  More  of  Wordsworth  should  be  read  than  is 
found  in  most  of  the  anthologies.  The  annotated  texts  are 
best.  For  the  complete  text  see  the  Globe  and  Cambridge 
Editions.  Life,  Harper,  Myers,  Raleigh,  Knight,  Legouis, 
Rannie.  Criticism,  Stephen,  Masson,  Bradley,  Pater,  Lowell, 
Hutton,  Arnold,  Church,  Bagehot,  Hazlitt. 
Coleridge.  Read  The  Rime  of  the  Ancient  Mariner,  Christahel, 
Kubla  Khan,  and  other  anthology  selections.  Complete 
poetical  works  in  Globe  Edition.  Life,  Campbell,  Traill,  Caine, 
Garnett.  Criticism,  Dowden,  Stephen,  Woodberry,  Swinburne, 
DeQuincey,  Brooke,  Shairp,  Pater,  Saintsbury. 
Southey.  Anthology  extracts  will  suffice  for  the  poems.  Read 
also  Life  of  Nelson,  which  is  available  in  annotated  editions. 
Life,  Dowden.  Criticism,  Stephen,  Hazlitt,  Saintsbury. 
Scott.  Read  The  Lady  of  the  Lake  or  Marmion,  as  well  as 
shorter  pieces  in  the  anthologies.  The  best  novels  for  study  are 
Quentin  Durward,  Kenilworth,  Guy  Mannering,  The  Heart  of 
Mid- Lothian,  Ivanhoe.  Life,  Hutton,  Lang,  Lockliart,  Yonge, 
Saintsbury.  Criticism,  Bagehot,  Stephen,  Brooke,  Swinburne, 
Carlyle,  Stevenson,  Shairp,  Young. 
Austen.    Read  Pride  and  Prejudice.     Only  a  few  of  the  novels 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  READING  AND   STUDY    429 

are  available  in  annotated  form.  Lifcy  G.  Smith,  Austen- 
Leigh,  Mitton,  Cornish,  Adams,  Hill.  Criticism,  Pollock, 
Pellew,  Bonnell,  Howells,  Helm,  Fitzgerald. 

Lamb.  Annotated  editions  of  the  Essays  of  Elia  should  be  used 
for  study.  The  anthology  extracts  are  very  inadequate.  At 
least  six  of  the  more  important  essays  mentioned  in  the  text 
should  be  read.  Life,  Lucas,  Ainger.  Criticism,  More,  Wood- 
berry,  Pater,  Birrell,  DeQuincey,  Harrison. 

Lander.    The  anthology  selections  are  sufficient.     His  poetry 
should  not  be  overlooked.      Life,   Colvin,   Forster.     Criticism, 
Woodberry,  De  Quincey,  Dowden,  Saintsbury,  Swinburne. 
Hazlitt.    The  extracts  in  the  anthologies  are  not  satisfactory, 
but  unfortunately  few  annotated  editions  are  available.     Life, 
Birrell,  W.  C.  Hazlitt.     Criticism,  More,  Saintsbury,  Stephen. 
Hunt.    Read  both  poetry  and  prose  in  the  anthologies.     Life, 
Monkhouse.     Criticism,  Macaulay,  Saintsbury,  Hazlitt. 
DeQuincey.    The  English  Mail  Coach  and  similar  essays  may 
be   obtained   in   annotated   editions.      Anthology   extracts   are 
usually  too  short.     Life,  Masson,  Salt,  Japp,  Hogg.     Criticism, 
Stephen,  Saintsbury,  Masson. 

The  Reviewers.  There  are  several  editions  of  selected  essays 
by  Jeffrey  and  other  critics.  See  Haney,  Early  Reviews  of 
English  Poets,  and  Stevenson,  Early  Reviews. 
Byron.  Read  The  Prisoner  of  Chillon  and  selections,  especially 
from  Canto  III,  of  Childe  Harold's  Pilgrimage.  The  anthologies 
give  a  fairly  representative  collection  of  the  shorter  poems.  For 
complete  poetical  works  see  Globe,  Cambridge,  and  Oxford 
Editions.  Life,  Nichol,  Noel.  Criticism,  Woodberry,  Arnold, 
Macaulay,  Morley,  Swinburne,  Hazlitt. 

Shelley.  Adonais  and  the  important  shorter  poems  are  printed 
in  nearly  all  anthologies.  Complete  poetical  works  in  Globe, 
Cambridge,  and  Astor  Editions.  Life,  Dowden,  Symonds, 
Sharp,  Rossetti.  Criticism,  Bradley,  Masson,  Woodberry, 
Arnold,  Gosse,  Brooke,  Dowden,  Bagehot,  Hutton. 
Keats.  The  Eve  of  St.  Agnes  should  be  read  in  addition  to  the 
short  pieces  in  the  anthologies.  Complete  poetical  works  in 
Globe,  Cambridge,  and  Astor  Editions.  Life,  Colvin,  Rossetti, 
Hancock.  Criticism,  Bradley,  Masson,  Arnold,  Lowell,  Brooke, 
Hudson,  Swinburne. 

Minor  Poets.  Adequate  selections  from  Rogers,  Campbell, 
Moore,  and  Hood  will  be  found  in  most  of  the  anthologies. 
Their  poems  are  not  availal)le  in  the  familiar  annotated  classics. 


430     SUGGESTIONS  FOR   READING   AND   STUDY 

THE   VICTORIAN  AGE 

General;  Harrison,  Early  Victorian  Literature;  Oliphant,  The 
Victorian  Age  of  English  Literature;  Saintsbury,  The  Nine- 
teenth Century  Literature;  Hudson,  iShort  History  of  English 
Literature  in  the  Nineteenth  Century;  Saintsbury,  The  Later 
Nineteenth  Century;  Walker,  The  Age  of  Tennyson;  Walker, 
Literature  of  the  Victorian  Era.  See  also  Brownell,  Victorian 
Prose  Masters;  Payne,  The  Greater  English  Poets  of  the  Nine- 
teenth Century;  Stedman,  Victorian  Poets;  Walker,  The  Greater 
Victorian  Poets;  Sharp,  Victorian  Poets;  Magnus,  English 
Literature  in  the  Nineteenth  Century. 

Macaulay.  The  best  essays  for  study  are  those  on  Johnson, 
Addison,  Hastings,  Bacon,  Clive,  and  Milton.  Extracts  from 
the  History  of  England  and  the  poems  will  be  found  in  most 
anthologies.  At  least  three  of  the  important  essays  should  be 
carefully  studied.  Life,  Trevelyan,  Morison.  Criticisviy  Sedg- 
wick, Stephen,  Bagehot,  Minto,  Arnold. 

Carlyle.  The  Essay  on  Burns  should  be  read  entire;  anthology 
extracts  may  be  used  for  other  selections.  Life,  Garnett,  Warner, 
Froude,  Matz,  Arnold.  Criticism,  Lowell,  Hutton,  Brownell, 
Minto,  Craig,  Masson,  Harrison,  Lill^^ 

Tennyson.  The  best  of  the  long  poems  for  study  are  Lancelot 
and  Elaine,  The  Passing  of  Arthur,  Enoch  Arden,  The  Princess, 
and  portions  of  In  Memoriam.  The  shorter  poems  are  well 
represented  in  most  anthologies.  Complete  works  in  Globe 
and  Cambridge  Editions.  Life,  Hallam  Lord  Tennyson, 
Lounsbury,  Lyall,  Benson.  Handbooks,  Luce,  Tainsh,  Master- 
man,  Lockyer,  Van  Dyke,  Maccallum,  Brooke.  Criticism, 
Harrison,  Hutton,  Gates,  Dowden,  Gordon,  Bagehot,  Forster. 
Browning.  Read  Andrea  del  Sarto,  Rabbi  Ben  Ezra,  and  the 
short  poems  in  the  annotated  editions.  The  anthologies  in 
many  cases  do  not  give  sufficient  material.  Complete  works 
in  the  Globe  and  Cambridge  Editions.  Life,  Sharp,  Orr, 
Griffin  and  Minchin,  Chesterton,  Gosse.  Handbooks,  Orr, 
Symons,  Berdoe,  Corson,  Alexander,  Cooke.  Criticism,  Brooke, 
Dowden,  Morley,  Symons,  Forster,  Birrell. 

Mrs.  Browning.    Read    The   Cry  of  the   Children   and   selected 
Sonnet f  from   the   Portuguese.      Complete   works   in    the    Globe 
and   Cambridge  Editions.      Life,  Ingram.      Criticism,   Whiting, 
Stedman,  Benson,  G   B.  Smith. 
Arnold.      Read    Sohrab    and    Ru^tum,   also    the    shorter    pieces 


SUGGESTIONS   FOR   READING  AND   STUDY    431 

in  the  anthologies.  Complete  poems  in  Globe  Edition.  Lijcy 
Paul,  Saintsbury,  Dawson,  Russell.  Criticism,  Robertson, 
Harrison,  Woodberry,  Gates,  Brooke,  Hutton. 
Rossetti.  Read  The  Blessed  Damozel,  Sister  Helen,  The  King's 
Tragedy,  and  selected  sonnets.  The  anthologies  are  fairly  good. 
Life,  W.  M.  Rossetti,  Benson,  Marillier,  Knight,  Sharp,  Gary. 
Criticism,  W.  M.  Rossetti,  Brooke,  Myers,  Swinburne,  Pater, 
Tirebuck. 

Morris.  The  anthology  extracts  from  The  Earthly  Paradise 
and  other  poems  are  adequate.  Life,  Mackail,  Noyes,  Gary, 
Drinkwater.  Criticism,  Brooke,  Swinburne,  Dawson,  More, 
Symons,  Brock. 

Swinburne.  The  anthology  extracts  are  in  most  cases  sufficient. 
Life,  Gosse,  Woodberry,  Wratislaw.  Criticism,  Mackail,  Wood- 
berry,  Thomas,  Lowell,  Forman. 

Other  Poets.  Selected  poems  from  Fitzgerald,  Glough,  Dobson, 
Lang,  Henley,  Davidson,  and  Thompson  will  be  found  in  the 
better  anthologies,  especially  those  of  recent  years. 
The  Novel.  See  the  general  references  cited  on  pages  416-417. 
Dickens.  A  Christmas  Carol  is  the  best  of  the  short  stories; 
David  Copperfield,  A  Tale  of  Two  Cities,  Our  Mutual  Friend, 
and  Pickvnck  Papers  are  the  best  of  the  longer  works.  See 
Philip,  A  Dickens  Dictionary.  Life,  Ward,  Elison,  Kitton, 
Forster,  Marzials.  Criticism,  Gissing,  Ghesterton,  Harrison, 
Bagehot,  Lilly,  Barlow. 

Thackeray.  Selections  from  The  Roundabout  Papers  or  The 
English  Humorists  may  be  read  in  conjunction  with  Vanity 
Fair  and  Henry  Esmond.  See  Mudge  and  Sears,  A  Thackeray 
Dictionary.  Life,  Trollope,  Melville,  Merivale  and  Marzials, 
Whibley.  Criticism,  Sedgwick,  Lilly,  Brownell,  Harrison, 
Scudder. 

Eliot.  Read  Silas  Marner,  Adam  Bede,  or  Romola.  The  poems 
are  farily  well  represented  in  the  anthologies.  Life,  Gross, 
Stephen,  Gooke,  Blind,  O.  Browning.  Criticism,  Brownell, 
James,  Olcott,  Gooke,  Jacobs,  Dowden,  Harrison. 
Meredith.  The  Egoist  and  The  Ordeal  of  Richard  Fever  el  afford 
the  best  optio'ial  reading.  Life,  Hammerton,  Henderson. 
Criticism,  Brownell,  Bailey,  Grees,  Henley,  Beach,  Trevelyan, 
Lynch,  Gurle,  Sherman,  Jerrold. 

Hardy.  Read  Far  from,  the  Madding  Crowd  or  The  Return  of 
the  Native.  See  Saxell)y,  A  Thomas  Hardy  Dictionary.  Life, 
Ghild.     Criticism,  Phelps,  Johnson,  Abercrombie,  Macdonnell. 


432    SUGGESTIONS  FOR  READING  AND   STUDY 

Stevenson.  Read  The  Sire  de  MaUtroifs  Door  or  any  other 
short  stories  included  in  the  anthologies  and  annotated  editions. 
Treasure  Island  and  An  Inland  Voyage  may  represent  the  longer 
works.  The  essays  and  poems  are  available  in  the  anthologies. 
Lifey  Balfour,  Raleigh,  Hamilton,  Japp.  Criticism,  James, 
Swinnerton,  Phelps,  Baildon,  Brown,  Chapman,  Rice. 
Other  Novelists.  Such  writers  as  Lytton,  Disraeli,  Mrs. 
Gaskell,  Reade,  Trollope,  the  Brontes,  Kingsley,  Collins,  Black- 
more,  and  Gissing  are  best  represented  by  the  novels  commended 
in  the  text.  With  few  exceptions  their  works  are  not  available 
in  annotated  editions. 

Ruskin.  Read  Sesame  and  Lilies.  Other  works  are  fairly  well 
represented  in  anthologies.  Life,  Cook,  Earland,  Colling  wood, 
Wingate,  Harrison,  Benson.  Criticism,  W.  M.  Rossetti,  Brown- 
ell,  Mather,  Mrs.  Meynell,  Robertson,  Scudder,  Hobson, 
Waldstein. 

Newman.  Read  Idea  of  a  University  and  the  anthology  selec- 
tions. Life,  Hutton,  Ward,  Barry,  Jennings.  CriticisMy 
Church,  Lilly,  Gates,  Jacobs. 

Scientific  Writers.  Several  of  Huxley's  Essays  are  available  in 
annotated  editions,  but  apart  from  these  the  anthologies  give 
a  few  specimens  from  such  writers  as  Darwin,  Tyndall,  Huxley, 
and  Spencer. 

Other  Essayists.  Pater,  Lang,  and  Stephen  are  represented  in 
some  anthologies,  but  are  best  read  in  the  works  cited  in  the 
text. 

CONTEMPORARY   WRITERS 

General:  Cunliffe,  English  Literature  during  the  Last  Half 
Century;  Kennedy,  English  Literature  (1880-1913);  Sherman, 
On  Contemporary  Literature;  Mais,  From  Shakespeare  to  0. 
Henry;  Williams,  Modern  English  Writers;  Lynd,  Old  and  New 
Masters;  Freeman,  The  Moderns;  Sturgeon,  Studies  of  Con- 
temporary Poets;  Phelps,  The  Advance  of  Poetry  in  the  Twentieth 
Century;  Archer,  Poets  of  the  Younger  Generation;  Lewisohn, 
The  Modern  Drama;  Howe,  Dramatic  Portraits;  Dukes, 
Modern  Dramatists;  Hale,  Dramatists  of  To-Day;  Borsa,  The 
English  Stage  of  To-Day;  Phelps,  The  Twentieth  Century 
Theatre;  Follett,  Some  Modern  Novelists;  Phelps,  Essays  on 
Modern   Novelists. 

Kipling.  A  few  of  the  best  short  stories  are  included  in  the 
annotated  series  and  several  of  the  popular  poems  are  in  the 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  READING  AND  STUDY    433 

anthologies,  but  these  should  be  supplemented  by  readings  from 

the  larger  collections.      Captains  Courageous  and  both  Jungle 

Books  should  also  be  read.     See  Knowles,  A   Kipling  Primer 

and  Young,   A   Kipling  Dictionary.     Life,  Palmer.     Criticism, 

Phelps,  LeGallienne,  Falls,  Monkhood,  Hopkins,  Cooper. 

Phillips.    Read    Marpessa,    Paolo   and   Francesca,    or     Ulysses. 

The    anthology    selections    are    inadequate.      Criticism,    Hale, 

Archer. 

Masefield.    Read  extracts  from  the  longer  narrative  poems  and 

such  shorter  poems  as  are  found  in  the  more  recent  anthologies. 

Noyes.    Read  extracts  from  Drake,  Tales  of  the  Mermaid  Tavern, 

and    the    more    familiar    shorter    poems    found    in    the    latest 

anthologies. 

Recent  Fiction.    The  novels  of  DeMorgan,  Mrs.  Ward,  Conrad, 

Doyle,   Hewlett,   Phillpotts,   Locke,   Hichens,  Zangwill,   Wells, 

Bennett,    and    Galsworthy    may    be    chosen    from    the    titles 

commended  in  the  text. 

Recent  Drama.    Plays  by  Pinero,  Jones,  Wilde,  Shaw,  Barrie, 

and  Barker  may  readily  be  selected  from  those  cited  in  the  text. 

Celtic  Renaissance.    See  Hyde,  A  Literary  History  of  Ireland; 

Boyd,   Ireland's   Literary    Renaissance;    Morris,    Celtic   Dawn; 

Weygandt,  Irish  Plays  and  Playwrights.     Readings  from  Lady 

Gregory,   Yeats,   Synge,   and   Lord   Dunsany  are  indicated  in 

the  text. 

Recent  Essayists.   Selections  from  Benson,  Symons,  Lucas,  and 

Chesterton  are  not  generally  available  in  the  anthologies.    They 

should  be  selected  from  the  books  mentioned  in  the  text. 

Most  of  all  the  works  cited  as  general  references  on  contem- 
porary writers  will  afford  further  suggestions  for  more  intensive 
study  of  the  current  literature  of  to-day.  Recent  issues  of  The 
Cumulative  Book  Index  should  be  consulted  for  new  books  in 
all  fields  of  writing. 


434    SUGGESTIONS  FOR  READING  AND  STUDY 


SUGGESTED    READING   IN   FICTION,   POETRY, 

AND   DRAMA    ILLUSTRATING   THE   VARIOUS 

PERIODS   OF   ENGLISH   HISTORY 

1.  Celtic  and  Roman  Britain.  Kipling,  Puck  of  Pook's  Hill; 
Shakespeare,  King  Lear^  Cymbeline;  Cutts,  The  Villa  of 
Claudius;   Church,  The  Count  of  the  Saxon  Shore. 

2.  The  Anglo-Saxon  Period.  Forrest,  Builders  of  the  Waste; 
Ellis,  The  Soul  of  a  Serf;  Davidson,  Edward  the  Exile;  Senior, 
The  Clutch  of  Circumstance;  Tennyson,  Harold;  Bulwer- 
Lytton,  Harold. 

3.  The  Anglo-Norman  Period.  Kingsley,  Hereward  the 
Wake;  Swan,  The  Sword  and  the  Cowl;  Macfarlane,  The  Camp 
of  Refuge;  Kipling,  Rewards  and  Fairies;  Scott,  The  Betrothed; 
Tennyson,  Becket;  Hewlett,  Richard  Yea  and  Nay;  Scott, 
IvanhoCy  The  Talisman;  Crawford,  Via  Crucis;  Shakespeare, 
King  John;  Marlowe,  Edward  II;  Porter,  Scottish  Chiefs; 
Doyle,  Sir  Nigel. 

4.  The  Fourteenth  Century  and  the  Renaissance.  Doyle, 
The  White  Company;  Shakespeare,  Richard  II,  Henry  IV, 
Henry  F,  Richard  III;  Converse,  Long  Will,  A  Romance; 
Yonge,  The  Lances  of  Lynwood;  Bulwer-Lytton,  The  Last  of 
the  Barons;  Forster,  In  Steel  and  Leather;  Stevenson,  The 
Black  Arrow;  Reade,  The  Cloister  and  the  Hearth;  Scott,  The 
Lady  of  the  Lake,  Marmion;  Major,  When  Knighthood  was  in 
Flower;  Yonge,  The  Armourer's  Apprentice. 

5.  The  Elizabethan  Age.  Twain,  Prince  and  Pauper;  Ains- 
worih.  The  Tower  of  London;  Tennyson,  Queen  Mary ;  Peahody, 
Marlowe;  Scott,  Kenibvorth;  Kingsley,  Westward  Ho;  Hewlett, 
The  Queen  s  Quair;  Scott,  The  Monastery,  The  Abbot;  Parker, 
A  Ladder  of  Swords;  Bennett,  Master  Skylark;  Noyes,  Tales 
of  the  Mermaid  Tavern;  Johnston,  Sir  Mortimer. 

6.  The  Seventeenth  Century.  Manning,  The  Masque  at 
Ludlow;  Church,  With  the  King  at  Oxford;  Shorthouse,  John 
Inglesant;  Scott,  The  Fcyrtunes  of  Nigel,  Woodstock,  Peverit  of 
the  Peak;  Black,  Judith  Shakespeare;  Quiller-Couch,  The 
Splendid    Spur;     Blackmore,     Lorna    Doone;     Doyle,    Micah 


SUGGESTIONS   FOR   READING  AND   STUDY     435 

Clarke;    Ainsvvorth,  Old  St.   Paid\s;    Hill,    Under   Three  King.s'; 
Weyman,  Shrewsbury. 

7.  The  Eighteenth  Century.  Blake,  A  Lady's  Ilonar,, 
DeFoe,  Robinson  Crusoe;  Manning,  Old  Chelsea  Bun- House; 
Thackeray,  Barry  Lyndon,  Henry  Esmond;  Bulwer-Lytton. 
Devereux;  Scott,  Rob  Roy,  Waverley,  The  Heart  of  Mid- Lothian; 
Stevenson,  Kidnapped,  Catriona,  The  Master  of  Ballantrae; 
Dickens,  Barnaby  Rudge;  Castle,  The  Bath  Comedy ;  Thackeray, 
The  Virginians;  Craik,  John  Halifax,  Gentleman;  Tarkington, 
Monsieur  Beaucaire;  Chnrchill,  Richard  Carvel;  Scott,  Guy 
Mannering,  Redgauntlet ;  Dickens,  Tale  of  Two  Cities;  Moore, 
The  J  ess  amy  Bride. 

8.  The  Nineteenth  Century.  Austen,  Pride  and  Prejudice; 
Doyle,  Rodney  Stone;  Scott,  The  Antiquary;  Hardy,  The 
Trumpet  Major;  Eliot,  Adam  Bede;  Thackeray,  Vanity  Fair; 
Dickens,  Nicholas  Nickleby;  Gaskell,  Cranford;  Lever,  Charles 
CMalley;  Dickens,  Bleak  House;  Trollojje,  Barchester  Towers; 
Kingsley,  Alton  Locke;  Besant,  Children  of  Gibeon;  Hardy, 
Far  from  the  Madding  Crowd;  DeMorgan,  Joseph  Vance; 
Bennett,  Old  Wives'  Tale;  Ward,  Marcella,  The  Marrying  of 
William  Ashe. 

9.  The  Twentieth  Century.  Sinclair,  The  Three  Sisters; 
Swinnerton,  Nocturne;  Kaye-Smith,  Sussex  Gorse;  Snaith, 
The  Undefeated;  Galsworthy,  Beyond;  Phillpotts,  Green  Alleys; 
Wells,  Mr.  Britling  Sees  It  Through;  Locke,  The  Red  Planet'^ 
Walpole,  Fortitude;   Ward,  Missing;   Wells,  Joan  and  Peter, 


INDEX 


.4660^  The,  291 

Abbotsford,  290,  292,  293 

Absalom  and  Achitophel,  188,  189 

Abt  Vogler,  342 

Actions  and  Reactions,  394 

Actor-Manager,  401 

Actors  and  Acting,  121-123 

Adam  Bede,  370 

Addison,  Joseph,  194-197,  206,  210, 

211.  426 
Admirable  Crichton,  407 
Adonais,  314 

Advancement  of  Learning,  105 
Aelfric,  28,  29 
Aeneid,  85,  91,  95,  191,  351 
Agnes  Grey,  379 
Aids  to  Reflection,  283 
Alastar,  312 
Alchemist,  The,  151 
Alfred,  26-28 
Alice-for-Short,  398 
Alice  in  Wonderland,  381 
All  for  Love,  188 

AWs  Well  That  Ends  Well,  134,  137 
Alliteration,  11 
Alton  Locke,  380 
Amazing  Marriage,  372 
Amelia,  222 

American  Notes  (Dickens),  360,  392 
American  Notes  (Kipling),  392 
American  Taxation,  240 
Amoretti,  108 
Ancient  Mariner,  Rime  of,  275,  281, 

283,  284 


Ancren  Riwle,  54,  55 

Andrea  del  Sarto,  342,  345 

Andreas,  24,  25 

Androcles  and  the  Lion,  406 

Anglo-Norman  Period,  32-59 

Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle,  29,  30 

Anglo-Saxon  Period,  1-31 

Anglo-Saxons,  6,  7 

Annual  Register,  240 

Annus  MirabUis,  188 

Ann  Veronica,  402 

Anticipations,  401 

Antiquary,  The,  291 

Antony  and  Cleopatra,  134,  143,  144, 

188 
Apologia  pro  Vita  sua,  386 
Apologiefor  Poetrie,  102 
Appreciations,  388 
Arabian  Nights,  410 
Arbuthnot,  Epnsde  to  Dr.,  210 
Arcadia,  102 
Areopagitica,  170 
y4r7W5  anc?  <^e  Man,  405 
Arnold,  Matthew,  200,  346-349,  430, 

431 
Arnold,  Thomas,  346 
Arraignment  of  Paris,  123 
Arrow  of  Gold,  399 
Arthur,  King,  42-45,  87 
Ascham,  Roger,  93,  94,  422 
Asolando,  343 
Astraea  Redux,  187 
Astrolabe,  Treatise  on,  69,  72,  73 
Astrophel  and  Stella,  102 


437 


438 


INDEX 


As  You  Like  It,  101,  Ui,  131,  134, 

138,  139 
Atalanta  in  Calydon,  352 
Aurora  Leigh,  34^ 
Austen,  Jane,  295-297,  428,  429 

Bacon,  Francis,  103-106,  423 

Badman,  Mr.,  160,  162 

Balder  Dead,  347 

Ballads,  English,  85-87,  422 

Barchester  Towers,  378 

Barker,  Granville,  407,  408 

Barrack-Room  Ballads,  393 

Barrie,  Sir  James,  406,  407 

Bartholomew  Fair,  152 

Battle  of  Agincourt,  106 

Battle  of  the  Books,  199,  200 

Beaconsfield,  Lord,  377,  378 

Beauchamp's  Career,  372 

Beaumont,  Francis,  152 

Becket,  337 

Becket,  Thomas  k,  73 

Bede,  21,  22 

Behn,  Aphra,  213 

Belle  Dame  sans  Merci,  316 

Bells  and  Pomegranates,  340 

Beloved  Vagabond,  400 

Bennett,  Arnold,  402,  410 

Benson,  Arthur  C,  410 

Beowidf,  15-20,  351,  420 

Bestiaries,  51,  52 

Bevis  of  Hampton,  50,  51 

Bible,  91,  92,  156 

Bickerstaff,  Isaac,  197,  198,  200,  201 

Biographia  Literaria,  283 

Black,  William,  381 

Blackmore,  Richard  D.,  380 

Blackwood's  Magazine,  316,  370 

Blake,  William,  264-266,  428 

Blank  Verse,  95 

Bleak  House,  301,  302,  361 

Blot  in  the  Scutcheon,  340,  341 


Boccaccio,  71,  191 

Body  and  Soul,  55 

Boethius,  28,  72 

Bogie  Man,  408 

Boileau,  180,  205,  247 

Book  of  Martyrs,  101 

Book  of  Snobs,  365 

Boswell,  James,  231-233,  294 

Bothwell,  353 

Boyle,  Robert,  185 

Bride  of  Abydos,  307 

Bride  of  Lammermoor,  294 

Broken  Heart,  153 

Bronte,  Charlotte,  378,  379 

Brooke,  Rupert,  397 

Brougham,  Lord,  305 

Browne,  Sir  Thomas,  158 

Browning,  Elizabeth  B.,  341,  342, 

430 
Browning,  Robert,  339-345,  430 
Brunanburh,  Battle  of,  30 
Brut,  42,  43 
Bryhtnoth's  Death,  30 
Bulwer,  Edward,  377 
Bunyan,  John,  159-162,  425 
Burke,  Edmund,  233,  239-243,  427 
Burney,  Fanny,  256 
Burns,  Robert,  266-270,  428 
Butler,  Samuel,  183,  184 
Byron,  Lord,  305-311,  429 

Cadenus  and  Vanessa,  203 
Caedmon,  22,  23 
Cain,  309 

Call  of  the  Blood,  400 
Cambridge,  158,  167,  273 
Campaign,  The,  195 
Campaspe,  123 
Campbell,  Thomas,  319 
Candida,  405 
Cannan,  Gilbert,  404 
Canterbury,  21 


INDEX 


439 


Canterbury  Tales,  69,  73-80,  91 

Captain  Singleton,  218 

Captains  Courageous,  393 

Carew,  Thomas,  165 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  328-332,  344,  430 

Caroline  Poets,  164-lGG 

Carroll,  Lewis,  381 

Casa  Guidi  Windows,  342 

Castell  of  Perseverance,  118 

Castle  of  Indolence,  251 

Castle  of  Otranto,  255 

Castle  Raclcrent,  256 

Catiline,  152 

Catriona,  376 

Cavalier  Poets,  164-166 

Caxton,  William,  89,  91 

Caxtons,  The,  377 

Celtic  Renaissance,  408-410 

Celtic  Twilight,  409 

Cenci,  The,  313,  395 

Cervantes,  183,  223 

Chance,  399 

Chapman,  George,  106,  152,  153 

Characters,  213 

Charlemagne,  47 

Chastelard,  352,  353 

Chatterton,  Thomas,  257,  258 

Chaucer,  Geoffrey,'  67-81,  421 

Chester  plays,  113 

Chesterfield,  Lord,  229 

Chesterton,  G.  K.,  411 

Childe  Harold,  307,  309 

Child's  Garden  of  Verses,  376 

Children  of  the  Ghetto,  401 

Children  of  the  Mist,  399 

Chinese  Letters,  235 

Chivalry,  45,  47,  50 

Christ  in  Hades,  394 

Christ's  Hospital,  280,  297 

Christahel,  282,  284,  285 

Christian  Hero,  197 

Christianity,  20,  21 


Chronicle,  The,  29,  30 

Church  History  of  England,  158 

Cibber,  Colley,  211 

Citizen  of  the  World,  235 

Clarissa  Harlowe,  220 

Classical  couplet,  181 

Classical  period,  192-246 

Classical  unities,  121 

Classicism,  180-183 

Clayhanger,  402 

Cloister  and  the  Hearth,  378 

Clough,  Arthur  H.,  355 

Club,  The,  230,  233,  238 

Club  of  Queer  Trades,  411 

Coffee  houses,  191,  193,  196,  205 

Coleridge,  Samuel  Taylor,  274,  279- 

286,  297,  428 
Collier,  Jeremy,  193 
Collins,  Wilkie,  380 
Collins,  William,  252,  253 
Colombes  Birthday,  340 
Colonel  Jack,  213 
Comedy  of  Errors,  133,  135 
Complaint,  The,  252 
Compleat  Angler,  157 
Comus,  168,  169 
Conciliation  with  America,  240 
Confessio  Amantis,  66,  67 
Confessions  of  an  Opium-Eater,  303 
Congreve,  William,  186,  187 
Coningsby,  378 
Conrad,  Joseph,  398,  399 
Conrad  in  Quest  of  his  Youth,  401 
Consolation  of  Philosophy,  28,  72 
Contemporary  writers,   389-412 
Coriolanus,  134,  144 
Cornish,  William,  120 
Corsair,  The,  307 
Cotter's  Saturday  Night,  268,  270 
Countess  Cathleen,  409 
Country  House,  403 
Country  Wife,  187 


440 


INDEX 


Couplets,  classical,  181 
Coventry  plays,  113,  114 
Coverdale,  Miles,  92 
Cowper,  William,  261-263,  427 
Crabbe,  George,  263,  264,  427 
Craik,  Dinah  M.,  381 
Cranfard,  378 

Crashaw,  Richard,  163,  164 
Crist,  23 
Critic,  The,  245 
Critical  Review,  305 
Crown  of  Wild  Olive,  383 
Cry  of  the  Children,  341 
Cuckoo-song,  56 
Curse  of  Kehama,  287 
Cursor  Mundi,  53,  54 
Cymbeline,  134,  135 
Cynewulf,  23,  24 
Cynthia,  401 
Cynthia's  Revels,  151 

Daffodil  Fields,  396 

Dance  of  the  Deadly  Sins,  85 

Dancing  Girl,  405 

Danes,  The,  25,  26 

Daniel,  23 

Daniel  Deronda,  371 

Dante,  395 

Darwin,  Charles,  387 

Dauber,  396 

Daughter  of  Heth,Sm 

David  and  Bathsabe,  123 

David  Copperfield,  360,  361 

Davidson,  John,  356 

Dawson,  Coningsby,  404 

Day's  Work,  393 

Dear  Brutus,  407 

Decline  and  Fall  of  Roman  Empire, 

242 
Defense  of  Guenevere,  351 
Defense  of  Poesie,  102 
DeFoe,  Daniel,  214-219,  426 


Deidre,  409 

Deidre  of  the  Sorrows,  409 

Dekker,  Thomas,  153 

Deloney,  Thomas,  212 

DeMorgan,  William,  398 

Demos,  381 

Dear's  Lament,  14 

Departmental  Ditties,  392 

DeQuincey,  Thomas,  302-304,  383, 

429 
Descent  of  Man,  387 
Deserted  Village,  235 
Desperate  Remedies,  373 
Dethe  of  Blanche,  69,  71 
Diana  of  the  Crossways,  372 
Diarists,  The,  184,  185 
Dickens,  Charles,  357-364,  431 
Dictionary,  Johnson's,  227-229 
Discovery  of  Guiana,  103 
Disputations,  55 
Disraeli,  Benjamin,  377,  378 
Dobson,  Austin,  355 
Doctor  Faustus,  125,  126 
Dodgson,  Charles  L.,  381 
Dombey  and  Son,  360 
Don  Juan,  309 
Donne,  John,  162 
Don  Quixote,  183,  223 
Don  Roderick,  289 
Double  Dealer,  187 
Douglas,  Gawain,  85 
Doyle,  A.  Conan,  399 
Drake,  397 
Drama,  112-123,  153,  154,  404-408, 

416,  423 
Dramatic  Idyls,  343 
Dramatic  Romances,  341 
Dramatic  technique,  416 
Dramatic  unities,  121 
Dramatis  Personae,  342 
Drapier's  Letters,  202 
Drayton,  Michael,  106 


INDEX 


441 


Dream  Children,  299 
Dreamers  of  the  Ghetto,  401 
Dream  Fugue,  304 
Dream  of  Gerontius,  387 
Dream  of  the  Rood,  24 
Dr.  Faustus,  125,  126 
Dr.  Jekyll  and  Mr.  Hyde,  375 
Dryden,  John,  187-191,  425 
Duchess  of  Malfi,  153 
Dunbar,  William,  84 
Dunciad,  210,  211,  215,  306 
Dunsany,  Lord,  409,  410 
Dynasts,  The,  374 

Earle,  John,  213 

Early  Romanticism,  247-270 

Earthly  Paradise,  351 

Earthwork  out  of  Tuscany,  400 

Ecclesiastical  History,  21,  28 

Ecclesiastical  Polity,  101 

Edgeworth,  Maria,  256 

Edinburgh  Review,  286,  301,  305 

Edward  II,  125 

Edwin  Drood,  Mystery  of,  362 

Egoist,  The,  372 

Eldest  Son,  403 

Eleanor,  398 

Elegy  (Gray),  259,  261 

Elene,  23,  24 

Elia,  Essays  of,  298,  299 

Eliot,  George,  369-372,  431 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  97,  99 

Elizabethan  Age,  97-154 

Eltham  House,  398 

Emerson,  R.  W.,  329 

Emma,  296 

Endymion  (Disraeli),  378 

Endymion  (Keats),  316,  318 

Endymion  (Lyly),  123 

English  Bards  and  Scotch  Reviewers, 

306 
English  Humorists,  366 


English  Language,    See  Language 

English  Mail  Coach,  304 

Enoch  Arden,  337,  339 

Epicene,  151 

Epithalamium,  108 

Ernest  McUtravers,  377 

Essay  of  Dramatic  Poesy,  188 

Essay  on  Criticism,  206 

Essay  on  Man,  210 

Essay  on  Satire,  191 

Essays  in  Criticism,  348 

Essays  of  Elia,  298,  299 

Essays  on  His  Own  Times,  286 

Essay  upon  Projects,  215 

Ethics  of  the  Dust,  383 

Eton  College,  Ode  on,  259 

Eugene  Aram,  377 

Euphues,  99,  100 

European  War,  391,  397,  398,  402, 

409 
Evan  Harrington,  372 
Evelina,  256 
Evelyn,  John,  184 
Eve  of  St.  Agnes,  316,  317 
Everlasting  Mercy,  396 
Everyman,  118,  119 
Every  Man  in  His  Humor,  151 
Every  Man  out  of  His  Humor,  151 
Examiner,  The,  302,  315 
Excursion,  The,  276 
Exeter  Book,  13,  23 
Exodus,  23 

Fables  (Dryden),  191 

Faerie  Queene,  108-110,  315 

Faithful  Shepherdess,  152 

Falles  of  Princes,  82 

Familiar  Studies,  376 

Fannys  First  Play,  406 

Far  from  the  Madding  Crorvd,  373 

Fates  of  the  Apostles,  23,  24 

Faust,  309 


442 


INDEX 


Faustus,  Dr.,  125,  126 

Felix  Holt,  370 

Fenwick's  Career,  398 

Fielding,  Henry,  221,  222,  426 

Fingd,  253 

Finnsburh,  20 

Fitzgerald,  Edward,  354 

Five  Nations,  393 

Five  Towns,  402 

Fleshly  School,  350,  353 

Fletcher,  John,  152 

Flight  of  a  Tartar  Tribe,  304 

Flower  of  Old  Japan,  396 

Folios  of  Shakespeare,  147 

Ford,  John,  153 

Forest  Lovers,  400 

Fars  Clavigera,  383,  385 

Fortunate  Youth,  400 

Fortunes  of  Nigel,  291,  292 

Four  Georges,  307 

Four  Fs,  120 

Foxe,  John,  101 

Freelands,  The,  403 

French  influence,  33,  34,  39,  40, 179 

180 
French  Revolution,  242,  272,  278 
French  Revolution  (Carlyle),  330 
Friar  Bacon  and  Friar  Bungay,  124 
Friend,  The,  282 
From  a  College  Window,  410 
Fugitive  Pieces,  306 
Fuller,  Thomas,  158 
Funeral,  The,  197 
Furness,  Horace  H,,  148 

Gaelic  League,  408 

Gaimar,  42 

Gallipoli,  396 

Galsworthy,  John,  402,  403,  410 

Gammer  Gurton^s  Needle,  121 

Gaol  Gate,  408 

Garden  of  Allah,  400 


Garrick,  David,  225,  226,  230,  231, 

233 
Gaskell,  Elizabeth  C,  378 
Gawayne  and  the  Green  Knight,  45-47 
Gay  Lord  Quex,  404 
Gehir,  300 
Genesis,  23 
Geneva  Bible,  92 
Gentle  Craft,  212 
Geoffrey  of  Monmouth,  41,  42 
Germ,  The,  349 
Ghetto  Tragedies,  401 
Giaour,  The,  307 
Gibbon,  Edward,  243-245,  427 
Gil  Bias,  223 
Gissing,  George,  381,  382 
Gleeman,  12 
Glittering  Gate,  409 
Goblin  Market,  350 
Gods  of  the  Mountains,  409 
Golden  Doom,  409 
Good  Natured  Man,  237 
Goethe,  125 

Goldsmith,  Oliver,  234-239,  426 
Garbudoc,  121,  126 
Gorgeous  Gallery,  106 
Governail  of  Princes,  82 
Gower,  John,  66,  67,  421 
Gray,  Thomas,  258-261,  427 
Great  Bible,  92 
Great  Expectations,  362 
Great  War,  391,  397,  398,  402,  409 
Green  Alleys,  399 
Green  Carnation,  400 
Greene,  Robert,  101,  123,  124,  131 
Gregory,  Lady,  408 
Gregory,  Pope,  21,  27 
Griffith  Gaunt,  378 
Guardian,  The,  196 
Gulliver  s  Travels,  202 
Guy  Mannering,  291  ^ 

Guy  of  Warwick,  50,  51 


INDEX 


443 


Hales,  Thomas  de,  57 

Hamilton,  William  G.,  240 

Hamlet,  131,  134,  140,  141 

Handfvl  of  Pleasant  Delights,  106 

Handlying  Synne,  54 

Hardy,  Thomas,  373,  374,  431 

Harold,  337 

Hastings,  Warren,  242 

Havelok,  48,  49 

Haven,  The,  399 

Hazlitt,  William,  301,  429 

Heart  of  Midlothian,  292 

Henley,  William  E.,  355 

Henry  Esmond,  366,  367 

Henry  IV,  134,  137 

Henry  V,  134,  138 

Henry  VI,  133 

Henry  VII,  History  of,  105 

Henry  VIII,  133 

Henry  of  Huntingdon,  41 

Henryson,  Robert,  84 

Herbert,  George,  163 

Heretics,  411 

Hereward  the  Wake,  380 

Hero  and  Leander,  106 

Herod,  395 

Heroes  and  Hero-Worship,  330 

Heroic  Stanzas,  187 

Herrick,  Robert,  164,  165 

Hesperides,  164 

Hewlett,  Maurice,  400 

Heywood,  John,  120 

Heywood,  Thomas,  153 

Hichens,  Robert,  400,  401 

Hild,  21 

Hilda  Lessways,  402 

Hind  and  Panther,  190 

His  House  in  Order,  404 

History,  English,  413 

History  of  the  World,  103 

Hobbes,  Thomas,  186 

Hoccleve,  82 


Holinshed,  Raphael,  101 

Holy  Dying,  157 

Holy  Living,  157 

Holy  War,  161 

Homer  (Chapman),  106,  315 

Homer  (Pope),  208,  209,  339 

Hood,  Thomas,  319,  321 

Hooker,  Richard,  101 

Horace,  206 

Hours  of  Idleness,  306 

Hous  of  Fame,  69,  71,  72 

Hudibras,  183,  184 

Human  Odds  and  Ends,  381 

Humphrey  Clinker,  223 

Hun^  Leigh,  302,  315,  429 

Huxley,  Thomas,  387,  388,  401 

Hyacinth  Halvey,  408 

Hyckescorner,  118 

Hyde,  Douglas,  408 

Hydriotaphia,  159 

Hypatia,  380 

Hyperion,  316 

Hypocrites,  The,  405 

Idea  of  a  University,  387 

Ideal  Husband,  405 

Idler,  The,  229 

Idylls  of  the  King,  336,  337,  339 

Iliad,  The,  208,  209 

//  Penseroso,  168 

Imaginary  Conversations,  300 

Imaginary  Portraits,  388 

Immortality  Ode,  276 

Importance  of  Being  Earnest,  405 

Inland  Voyage,  375 

In  Memoriam,  334,  335 

Innocence  of  Father  Brown,  411 

Interlude,  119,  120 

Invisible  Man,  401 

Irene,  226,  227 

Iris,  404 

Irish  Renaissance,  408-410 


444 


INDEX 


Island  Pharisees,  403 

Italian,  The,  256 

It  is  Never  too  Late  to  Mend,  378 

It  Never  Can  Happen  Again,  398 

Ivanhoe,  291 

Jack  of  Newbery,  212 

James  I  of  Scotland,  84 

Jane  Eyre,  379 

Jeffrey,  Francis,  305 

Jew  of  Malta,  125 

Joan  and  Peter,  402 

Joan  of  Arc,  304 

John  Gilpin's  Ride,  263 

John  Halifax,  Gentleman,  381 

John  Inglesant,  381 

Johnson,  Esther,  191,  201 

Johnson,  Samuel,  224-234,  236,  238, 

426 
Jonathan  Wild,  222 
Jones,  Henry  Arthur,  404,  405 
Jonson,  Ben,  151,  152 
Joseph  Andrews,  221 
Joseph  Vance,  398 
Journal  of  the  Plague,  218 
Journal  to  Stella,  201 
Joy,  403 

Jude  the  Obscure,  373 
Judith,  23 

Judith  Shakespeare,  381 
Juliana,  23 

Julius  Caesar,  134,  140 
Jungle  Books,  393 
Junius,  Manuscript,  13 
Justice,  403 

Kaye-Smith,  Sheila,  404 
Keats,  John,  315-318,  429 
Kelmscott  Press,  351 
Kenilivarth,  129,  291,  292 
Kidnapped,  376 
Kim,  393 


King  Argimenes,  409 

King  Hart,  85 

King  Horn,  47,  48 

Kingis  Quair,  84 

King  James  Bible,  156 

King  John,  134,  136 

King  Lear,  134,  142,  143 

Kingsley,  Charles,  379,  380 

Kipling,  Rudyard,  391-394,  432 

Kiss  for  Cinderella,  407 

Kit  Cat  Club,  194 

Kubla  Khan,  285 

Kyd,  Thomas,  124 

Lady  of  Lyons,  377 

Lady  of  the  Lake,  289,  290 

Lady  Rose's  Daughter,  398 

Lady  Windermere's  Fan,  405 

Lake  District,  275,  286,  303,  383 

Lake  Poets,  286,  318 

Lalla  Rookh,  319 

L' Allegro,  168 

Lamb,  Charies,  280,  297-300,  429 

Lamia,  317 

Landor,  Walter  S.,  300,  301,  429 

Lang,  Andrew,  355 

Langland,  William,  65 

Language,   English,   9,   10,   30,   31, 

35-40,  60,  61,  81,  415 
La^t  Chronicle  of  Barset,  379 
Last  Days  of  Pompeii,  377 
Last  of  the  Barons,  377 
Laughter  of  the  Gods,  410 
Layamon,  43 

Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel,  289 
Lays  of  Ancient  Rome,  327 
Legende  of  Good  Women,  69,  72 
Letter- writing,  417 
Leviathan,  186 
Lewes,  George  H.,  370,  371 
Liars,  The,  405 
Life  and  Death  of  Jason,  351 


INDEX 


445 


Lifes  Handicap,  392 
Light  that  Failed,  392 
Literary  Club,  230,  233,  238 
Literary  criticism,  417 
Literary  England,  414,  415 
Literature  series,  418,  419 
Little  Dorrit,  361 
Little  Minister,  407 
LitthWhiie  Bird,  407 
Lives  oj  the  Poets,  230,  231 
Locke,  John,  186 

Locke,  William  J.,  400 

Lockhart,  John  G.,  294 

Lodge,  Thomas,  101,  124 

London,  226 

Londoners,  The,  400 

London  Lickpenny,  83 

London  Magazine,  298 

Loom  of  Years,  396 

Lard  Jim,  399 

Lorna  Doone,  380 

Lothair,  378 

Love  for  Love,  187 

Lovelace,  Richard,  165,  166 

L(rver,  The,  196 

Love  Rune,  57 

L-oves  Labor's  Lost,  100,  133-135 

Lucas,  Edward  V.,  411 

Luck  of  Barry  Lyndon,  365 

Lycidas,  169 

Lydgate,  John,  82 

Lying  Lover,  197 

Lying  Prophets,  399 

Lyly,  John,  99,  100,  123 

Lyrical  Ballads,  275,  281 

Lytton,  Lord,  377 

Macaulay,  Thomas  B.,  325-328,  430 
Macbeth,  134,  141,  142 
MacFlecknoe,  189 
Mackenzie,  Compton,  404 
Macpherson,  James,  253,  254 


Madoc,  287 

Madras  House,  408 

Maeterlinck,  409 

Magazines,  390 

Magistrate,  The,  404 

Maid's  Tragedy,  152 

Major  Barbara,  406 

Maldon,  Battle  of,  30 

Malory,  Sir  Thomas,  87,  91,  336 

Manalive,  411 

Man  and  Superman,  405,  406 

Mandemlles  Travels,  61,  62,  421 

Manfred,  309 

Mankind  in  the  Making,  401 

Manning,  Robert,  54 

Man  of  Devon,  403 

Man  of  Property,  403 

Mantle  of  Elijah,  401 

Manuscripts,  12 

Man  Who  was  Thursday,  411 

Many  Inventions,  393 

Marcella,  398 

Marius  the  Epicurean,  388 

Marlowe,  Christopher,  106,  124-127 

Marmion,  289,  290 

Marpessa,  394 

Marriage,  402 

Marriage  of  William  Ashe,  398 

Marrying  of  Ann  Leete,  408 

Marston,  John,  153 

Martin  Chuzzlemit,  360 

Masefield,  John,  395,  396,  410,  433 

Masques,  152 

Massinger,  Philip,  153 

Master  of  BaJlantrae,  376 

Master,  The,  401 

Maud,  336 

Measure  for  Measure,  134,  144 

Medal,  The,  189 

Melting  Pot,  401 

Memoirs  of  a  Cavalier,  218 

Men  and  Women,  342 


446 


INDEX 


Merchant  of  Venice,  125,  134,  137 
Meredith,  George,  372,  373,  431 
Merle  and  Nightingale,  85 
Merrick,  Leonard,  401 
Merry  Wives  of  Windsor,  134,  137, 

138 
Metaphysical  Poets,  162 
Micah  Clarke,  399 
Michael,  278 
Midas,  123 
Mid-Channel,  404 
Middleman,  The,  405 
Middlemarch,  370,  371 
Middle  Temple,  238,  239,  297 
Middleton,  Thomas,  153 
Midsummer  Night's  Dream,  134,  135, 

186 
Milestones,  402 
Mill,  John  Stuart,  330 
MiU  on  the  Floss,  370 
Milton,  John,  166-177,  425 
Minstrelsy,  Scottish,  289 
Miracle  plays,  112-117 
Missing,  398 
Modern  Painters,  382 
Modern  Utopia,  401 
Modest  Proposal,  203 
Moll  Flanders,  218 
Monastery,  The,  291 
Monthly  Review,  304 
Moonstone,  The,  380 
Moore,  Thomas,  319 
Morality  plays,  117-119 
Moral  Ode,  52,  53 
Morals  of  Marcus,  400 
More,  Sir  Thomas,  92-93,  422 
Morris,  William,  350-352,  431 
Marie  d' Arthur,  87,  88,  91,  336,  422 
Mother,  The,  399 
Mourning  Bride,  187 
Mr.  Britling,  402 
Mrs.  Dane's  Defense,  405 


Much  Ado  About  Nothing,  134,  138 

Munera  Pulveri^,  383 

Murder  as  a  Fine  Art,  303 

My  Last  Duchess,  345 

My  Novel,  377 

Mysteries  of  Udolpho,  256 

Mystery  plays,  112-117 

Nash,  Thomas,  212 
Natural  Society,  239 
Nature,  attitude  towards,  181,  182, 

248,  249 
Naulahka,  The,  392 
Necessity  of  Atheism,  312 
Nelson,  Life  of,  287 
Nether  World,  381 
Neio  Arabian  Nights,  375 
Newcomes,  The,  367 
New  Grub  Street,  381 
Newman,  John   Henry,    386,    387, 

432 
Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  186 
New  Way  to  Pay  Old  Debts,  153 
New  Worlds  far  Old,  401 
Next  Religion,  401 
Nicholas  NicMeby,  359 
Nigger  on  the  Narcissus,  399 
Night  at  an  Inn,  410 
Night  Thoughts,  252 
Noah,  Play  of,  116 
Noble  Lord,  Letter  to  a,  242 
Noble  Numbers,  164 
No  Name,  380 
Norman  Conquest,  32,  33 
Northanger  Abbey,  296 
North,  Sir  Thomas,  101 
Nostromo,  399 
Novel,  rise  of  the,  212-214,  356,  357, 

416,  417 
Novum  Organum,  105 
Noyes,  Alfred,  390,  397,  433 
Nid  Browne  Maid,  86 


INDEX 


447 


Occleve,  Thomas,  82 

Odes,  252,  259,  276,  336 

Odyssey,  The,  208,  209 

Old  Bachelor,  187 

Old  Curiosity  Shop,  359 

Old  Delabole,  399 

Old  English  Period,  1-31 

Old  Lamps  for  New,  411 

Old  Mortality,  291 

Old  Wives'  Tale  (Bennett),  402 

Old  Wives'  Tale  (Peele),  123 

Oliver  Tvnst,  359 

Omar  Khayyam,  354 

On  the  Spanish  Main,  39G 

Open  Road,  411 

Ordeal  of  Richard  Feverel,  372 

Origin  of  Species,  387 

Ormulum,  The,  53 

Oronooko,  213 

Orosius,  27 

Orphan,  The,  186 

Ossian,  253,  254 

Othello,  134,  141,  185,  186 

Otway,  Thomas,  186 

Our  Mutual  Friend,  362 

Overbury,  Sir  Thomas,  213 

Ovid,  191 

Owl  and  Nightingale,  55 

Oxford,  194,  243,  386 

Pair  of  Blue  Eyes,  373 

Palice  of  Honour,  85 

Pamela,  220,  221 

Pandosto,  101,  124 

Paolo  and  Francesca,  395 

Paracelsus,  340 

Paradise  Lost,  173,  174,  176 

Paradise  of  Dainty  Devices,  106 

Paradise  Regained,  174,  175 

Parisina,  307 

Parlement  of  Foules,  69,  71 

Partridge,  John,  200,  201 


Pastoral  Care,  27 

Pater,  Walter,  388 

Patrician,  The,  403 

Paul  Clifford,  377 

Pauline,  340 

Pearl,  The,  58,  59 

Peele,  George,  123 

Pendennis,  366 

Pepys,  Samuel,  184,  185 

Percy,  Thomas,  254,  255 

Peregrine  Pickle,  223 

Pericles,  133 

Pericles  and  Aspasia,  300 

Peter  Pan,  407 

Phantom  Rickshaw,  392 

Philaster,  152 

Phillips,  Stephen,  394,  395,  433 

Phillpotts,  Eden,  399 

Philosophy,  185,  186 

Phcenix,  24,  25 

Picaresque  tales,  212 

Pickwick  Papers,  358,  359 

Piers  Plowman,  63-66,  421 

Pigeon,  The,  403 

Pilgrim's  Progress,  160,  161 

Pinero,  Sir  Arthur,  404,  405 

Pippa  Passes,  340,  341 

Plain  Dealer,  187 

Plain  Tales  from  the  Hills,  392 

Playboy  of  the  Western  World,  409 

Pleasures  of  Hope,  319 

Pleasures  of  Memory,  319 

Plutarch,  101 

Poema  Morale,  52,  53 

Poetaster,  The,  151 

Poet's  Corner,  69,  108,  320 

Polite  Learning,  235 

Polyolbion,  106 

Pope,  Alexander,  205-212,  426 

Porter,  Jane,  257 

Position  of  Peggy,  401 

Praeterita,  383 


448 


INDEX 


Prelude,  The,  277 
Pre-raphaelites,  349,  383 
Present  Discontents,  240 
Pride  and  Prejudice,  295 
Prince  Otto,  375 
Princess,  The,  334,  335 
Princess  of  Thule,  381 
Printing,  89,  91 
Prisoner  of  Chillon,  308 
Professor's  Love-Story,  407 
Profligate,  The,  404 
Prologue  (Chaucer),  73-76 
Prometheus  Unbound,  313 
Puck  of  Pook's  Hill,  394 
Puritan  Age,  155-177 
Puritan  influence,  155,  156 
Put  Yourself  in  His  Place,  378 
Pygmalion,  406 

Quality  Street,  407 

Quarterly  Review,  287,  305,  316,  333 

Quartos  of  Shakespeare,  147 

Queen  Mab,  312 

Queen  Mary,  337 

Queen  Mother,  352 

Queen's  Enemies,  410 

Queens  Quair,  400 

Quentin  Durward,  292 

Rabbi  Ben  Ezra,  342 
Radcliffe,  Ann,  255,  256,  296 
Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  102,  103,  423 
Ralph  Roister  Doister,  120 
Rambler,  The,  227 
Rape  of  Lucrece,  131 
Rave  of  the  Lock,  207,  208 
Rasselas,  229,  230 
Reade,  Charles,  378 
Recent  drama,  404-408 
Recent  essayists,  410-411 
Recent  fiction,  397-404 
Recuyell  of  Troye,  89 


Redgauntlet,  292 

Reformation,  91,  92,  97 

Regicide  Peace,  242 

Religio  Laici,  190 

Religio  Medici,  158 

Religion,  efiFect  of,  155, 156,  163,  225, 

247,  248,  323 
Religious  verse,  52,  57 
Reliques  of  Ancient  Poetry,  254,  255 
Remorse,  282 
Renaissance,  82-96 
Restoration,  The,  178-191 
Retaliation,  241 
Return  of  the  Druses,  340 
Return  of  the  Native,  373 
Reviewers,  The,  304,  305,  429 
Revolt  of  Islam,  313 
Revolt  of  the  Tartars,  304 
Rewards  and  Fairies,  394 
Reynard  the  Fox,  396 
Reynolds,  Sir  Joshua,  233 
Rhoda  Fleming,  372 
Richard  II,  134,  136 
Richard  III,  134,  136 
Richardson,  Samuel,  219-221,  426 
Richard  Yea  and  Nay,  400 
Richelieu,  377 
Riders  to  the  Sea,  409 
Ring  and  the  Book,  343 
Rising  of  the  Moon,  408 
Rivals,  The,  245 
River,  The,  399 

Roast  Pig,  Dissertation  on,  299 
Robert  Elsmere,  398 
Robert  of  Brunne,  54 
Robin  Hood  ballads,  86 
Robinson  Crusoe,  216,  217,  219 
Rob  Roy,  291 
Roderick  Random,  223 
Rogers,  Samuel,  319^ 
Rokeby,  289 
Romances,  early,  45-51,  421 


INDEX 


449 


Romanticism,  Age  of,  271-321 
Romanticism,   Early,  247-270 
Romantic  novel,  255,  256 
Romantic  Period,  271-321 
Romaunt  of  the  Rose,  69-71 
Romeo  and  Juliet,  134-136,  186 
Ronwla,  370 
Rosalynde,  101,  124 
Rosamund,  352 
Rose  and  the  Ring,  368 
Rossetti,  Christina,  350 
Rossetti,  Dante  G.,  349,  350,  431 
Rossetti,  William  M.,  350 
Roundabout  Papers,  368 
Round  Table,  42 
Rowley  Poems,  258 
Ruhaiyat,  354 

Ruskin,  John,  382-386,  432 
Russell,  George  W.,  408 

Sackville,  Thomas,  121,  126 

Sainte  Beuve,  348 

Saints  and  Sinners,  405 

Sainfs  Progress,  403 

Salt  Water  Ballads,  396 

Salute  from  the  Fleet,  397 

Samson  Agonistes,  175 

Safho  and  Phao,  123 

Sartor  Resartus,  329 

Satanic  School,  319 

Satire,  188,  189 

Scenes  of  Clerical  Life,  370 

Scholemaster,  The,  94 

School  for  Scandal,  245 

Schoolmaster,  The,  410 

Science,  influence  of,  185,  186,  323, 

324,  387,  388,  389 
Scop,  12 

Scott,  Sir  Walter,  288-297,  428 
Scottish  Chiefs,  257 
Scottish  poetry,  84,  85 
Seafarer,  The,  15 


Seasons,  The,  251 

Second  Mrs.  Tanqueray,  404,  405 

Second  Shepherds'   Play,    114,    116, 

117 
Secret  Woman,  399 
Sejanus,  151 

Sense  and  Sensibility,  295 
Sentimental  Journey,  224 
Septimus,  400 
Sesame  and  Lilies,  383,  385 
Seven  Lamps  of  Architecture,  383 
Seven  Seas,  393 
Shadow  of  the  Glen,  409 
Shadowy  Waters,  409 
Shadwell,  Thomas,  189 
Shakespeare,  William,  127-150,  209, 

230,  285,  286,  424 
Shakespearean  sonnet,  148 
Shaving  of  Shagpat,  372 
Shaw,  George  Bernard,  405,  406,  410 
Sheepfolds,  Notes  on,  385 
Shelley,  Percy  Bysshe,  311-315,  395, 

429 
Shepherd's  Calendar,  107-109 
Shepherds*   Play,  Second,   114,   116, 

117 
Sheridan,  Richard  B.,  245,  246,  427 
Sheriffs  of  Bristol,  241 
Sherlock  Holmes,  399 
She  Stoops  to  CoTiquer,  237 
Shirley,  379 
Shirley,  James,  153 
Shortest  Way  with  Dissenters,  215 
Shorthouse,  Joseph  H.,  381 
Short  story,  417 
Shcnrt  View,  193 
Sibylline  Leaves,  282 
Sidney,  Sir  Philip,  101,  102.  423 
Siege  of  Corinth,  307 
Sigurd  the  Volsung,  351 
Silas  Marner,  370 
Silver  Box,  403 


450 


INDEX 


Silver  King,  405 

Sinclair,  May,  404 

Sin  of  David,  395 

Sir  Charles  Grandison,  220 

Sir  Roger  de  Coverley,  195,  196,  213 

Smith,  Sidney,  305 

Smollett,  Tobias,  222,  223,  426 

Social  ideals,  271,  272 

Sohrab  and  Rustnm,  346,  347 

Soldiers  Three,  392 

Somehow  Good,  398 

Songs  before  Sunrise,  353 

Songs  of  Experience,  264,  265 

Songs  of  Innocence,  264 

Songs  of  Italy,  353 

Sonnet,  94,  95,  148,  275,  350 

Sardello,  340 

SovTs  Tragedy,  340 

Southey,  Robert,  280,  286-288,  319, 

428 
Spanish  Gypsy,  370 
Spanish  Tragedy,  124 
Spectator,  The,  195,  196,  198 
Speculum  Meditantis,  66 
Spencer,  Herbert,  387 
Spenser,  Edmund,  107-111,  423 
Spenserian  stanza,  110,  111,  251 
Spirit  in  Prison,  400 
Spirit  of  the  Age,  301 
Spreading  the  News,  408 
Stalky  and  Co.,  393 
Steele,  Sir  Richard,   195-198,  201, 

426 
Stella,  199,  201 
Stella  Maris,  400 
Stephen,  Sir  Leslie,  388 
Sterne,  Laurence,  223,  224,  426 
Stevenson,  Robert  Louis,  374-377, 

432 
Stevenson,  William,  121 
St.  Ives,  376 
Stones  of  Venice,  383 


Storie  oj  Thebes,  82 

Strange  Story,  377 

Strife,  403 

Striking  Hours,  399 

Sublime  and  the  Beautifnl,  239 

Suckling,  Sir  John,  165 

Suggested  readings,  434,  435 

Surrey,  Earl  of,  94,  95 

Suspiria  de  Profundis,  304 

Sweet  Lavender,  404 

Swift,  Jonathan,  199-204,  426 

Swinburne,   Algernon  C,   352-354, 

431 
Swinnerton,  Frank,  404 
Sybil,  378 

Symons,  Arthur,  410,  411 
Synge,  John  M.,  409 
Synthetic  Philosophy,  387 

Tabard  Inn,  74,  75,  76 

Table  Talk,  283 

Tale  of  a  Tub,  ^00 

Tale  of  Two  Cities,  361,  362 

Tales  from  Shakespeare,  298 

Tales  of  the  Mermaid  Tavern,  397 

Tales  of  Terror,  255,  296 

Talisman,  The,  292 

Tamburlaine,  125,  126 

Taming  of  the  Shrew,  133 

Tarn  O'Shanter,  268,  269 

Task,  The,  261,  262 

Taller,  The,  195,  196,  198 

Taylor,  Jeremy,  157 

Temora,  253 

Tempest,  The,  134,  146,  188 

Temple,  Sir  William,  199 

Temple,  The,  163 

Tenant  of  Wildfell  Hall,  379 

Tender  Husbands,  197 

Tennyson,  Alfred,  332-339,  430 

Tess  of  the  D'Urbervilles,  373 

Testament  of  Creseide,  84 


INDEX 


451 


Teutonic  religion,  8 
Thackeray,    William    M.,    364-^ 

379,  431 
Thaddeus  of  Warsaw,  257 
Thalaba  the  Destroyer,  287 
Theaters,  early,  121-123 
Theobald,  Lewis,  209,  210 
These  Twain,  402 
Thief  oj  Virtue,  399 
Thistle  and  the  Rose,  84 
Thompson,  Francis,  356 
Thomson,  James,  250,  251 
Thread  of  Gold,  410 
Through  the  Looking  Glass,  381 
Thunderbolt,  The,  404 
Thyrza,  381 
Time  Machine,  401 
Timon  of  Athens,  134,  144 
Tinker's  Wedding,  409 
Titus  Andronicus,  133 
Tom  Jones,  222 
Tono  Bungay,  402 
Topography  of  England,  414 
TotteVs  Miscellany,  96,  106 
Tourneur,  Cyril,  153 
Townley  plays,  113,  114 
Toxophilus,  93 
Tragedy  of  Nan,  396 
Tragic  Comedians,  372 
Traveler,  The,  235 
Travels  vnth  a  Donkey,  375 
Treasure  Island,  375 
Trelawney  of  the  Wells,  404 
Tristram  of  Lyonesse,  353 
Tristram  Shandy,  223 
Troilus  and  Cressida,  134,  144 
TroUus  and  Criseyde,  69,  72,  144 
Trollope,  Anthony,  378,  379 
Troye  Book,  82 
Turner,  J.  M.  W.,  382 
Twelfth  Night,  134,  139,  186 
Twickenham,  209 


Two  Brothers,  Poems  by,  333 
Two  Gentlemen  of  Verana,  134,  135 
Tioo  Noble  Kinsmen,  152 
Tyndale,  William,  91,  92 
Tyndall,  John,  388 
Typhoon,  399 

Udall,  Nicholas,  120 

Ulysses,  395 

Unclassed,  The,  381 

Under  the  Greenwood  Tree,  373 

Unfortunate  Traveler,  212 

Unities,  dramatic,  121 

University  wits,  124 

Unto  this  Last,  383 

Urn  Burial,  159 

Utopia,  93 

Vanity  Fair,  365,  366 
Vanity  of  Human  Wishes,  226 
Variorum  Shakespeare,  148 
Vaughan,  Henry,  163 
Venice  Preserved,  186 
Venus  and  Adonis,  131,  148 
Vercelli  Book,  13,  24 
Versification,  10,  416 
Vkar  of  Wakefield,  235-237 
Victor  and  Cazire,  311 
Victorian  Age,  322-388 
Victory,  399 

View  of  the  Stale  of  Ireland,  108 
VUlage,  The,  263,  264 
Villette,  379 
Virginians,  The,  367 
Virginibus  Puerisque,  376 
Vivian  Gray,  378 
Vocabulary,  30,  31,  38 
Volpone,  151 
Vox  Clamanlit,  66 
Voyage  to  Lisbon,  222 
Voysey  Inheritance,  408 
Vulgar  Errors,  158 


452 


INDEX 


Wace,  42 

Waldhere,  20 

Wallenstein,  281 

Waller,  Edmund,  181 

Walpole,  Horace,  255 

Walpole,  Hugh,  404 

Walton,  Izaak,  157 

Wanderer,  The,  14 

Wanderer  in  Holland,  411 

Wanderings  oj  Oisin,  409 

Warden,  The,  378 

Ward,  Mrs.  Humphrey,  398 

War  God,  401 

War,  Great.     See  Great  War 

War  of  the  Worlds,  401 

Waste,  406 

Watchman,  The,  281 

Water  Babies,  380 

Watson,  Sir  WUliam,  356 

Waverley,  290,  291 

Waverley  Novels,  290-293 

Way  of  the  World,  187 

Webster,  John,  153 

Weir  of  Hermiston,  376 

Wellington,  Ode  on,  336 

Well  of  the  Saints,  409 

Wells,  Herbert  G.,  401,  402,  410 

Wesley,  Charles,  247 

Wesley,  John,  225,  247 

Wessex  Poems,  374 

Westminster  Abbey,  69,   108,   151, 

191,  231,  238,  319,  320 
Westward  Ho,  380 
What  Every  Woman  Knows,  407 
When  the  Sleeper  Awakes,  401 


White  Company,  399 

White  Devil,  153 

Whitefield,  George,  225 

Widow  in  the  Bye  Street,  396 

Widsid,  13,  14 

Wilde,  Oscar,  405 

William  of  Malmesbury,  40,  41 

Wind  Among  the  Reeds,  409 

Window  in  Thrums,  407 

Winter's  Tale,  101,  124,  134,  145 

Wisdom  of  Father  Brawn,  411 

Woman  in  White,  380 

Woman  of  No  Importance,  405 

Woman  with  a  Fan,  400 

Woodlanders,  The,  373 

Woodstock,  293 

Wordsworth,  William,  273-279,  281, 

428 
World,  History  of  the,  27 
Worthies  of  England,  158 
Wuthering  Heights,  379 
Wyatt,  Sir  Thomas,  94,  95 
Wycherley,  WUliam,  186,  187 
Wycliffe,  John,  62,  63,  421 

Yeast,  379,  380 

Yeats,  William  B.,  408-410 

Yelloioplush  Papers,  365 

York  plays,  113 

You  Never  Can  Tell,  405    - 

Young,  Edward,  251,  252 

Youth,  399 

Zangwill,  Israel,  401,  410 
Zanoni,  377 


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